Sweeter than Caramel
by fleeting-nightmares
Summary: Mai has had a pretty smooth life after learning to be independent, that is until a certain narcissist and his twin decide to come and mess with it a little. With high strung emotions, an idiot scientist, the paranormal, tests and exams, what could possibly go wrong? High School AU for now. [MaiRu]
1. 1 - The Beginning

_This is my first fanfiction in a suuuuper long time. For most of the beginning, I plan on this being a high school AU (where Gene is alive), but eventually I plan to bring our favorite ghost hunters back together to solve cases! Thanks for reading!_

* * *

 **Tuesday, October 14**

"Come on, Mai! Do it again! Again!" Her classmates cheered her on. Looking around, Mai sat comfortably as she leaned back in her chair, feeling satisfied at the crowd she had amassed.

"Alright, alright. Just one last time," Mai said, looking over at the clock to see that there were a few minutes before lunch was over and classes were to continue. She pulled some pink bubble gum out of her bag, ripped off the wrapper dramatically, and shoved a few pieces into her mouth. Small whispers passed between her classmates. Friends and strangers from other classes murmured, some in anticipation and others in disbelief. She started chewing the mass in her mouth, and then carefully, oh so carefully, began to blow a small bubble. Gasps emerged from the crowd as they held their breath, what was about to happen was unprecedented. She slowly blew into her pink bubblegum bubble, inflating it little by little until it grew to almost the size of her face. The gathered students held onto one another wondering how long it was going to take until it burst. Bigger and bigger the bubble grew; the bigger and bigger Mai's ego had grown up until…

POP!

The brunette gazed in disbelief as the once vibrant pink bubble was now deflated, sticking to her chin and hanging down her face. The students stood silent before her, slowly backing away to their desks or out of the room. Small pricks of anger rose in her gut as she instantly knew the culprit.

"Naru!" She shot up out of her chair and met the smirking narcissist face to face, a sharpened pencil still held in his grasp. She sighed in defeat while collecting her gum and heading for the trash can. She sent him a piercing glare muttering, "It was just getting started." Her glare was received by his back as he took a seat in his chair and pulled out a book. Puffing out her cheeks, she threw out her gum, gathered as much of her dignity that was left and headed back to her seat, which coincidentally happened to be next to her favorite narcissist. She continued pouting and tapped rapidly on her desk trying to attract the attention of the cold-hearted jerk sitting next to her.

"Yes, Mai?" He replied coolly to her taps, not missing a beat while reading his book.

"You burst my bubble," She mumbled, using her once tapping hand to hold up her chin.

"This is a classroom, not a playground."

"It's a classroom, not a playground," Mai mocked in her best Naru voice before turning her head over to the doorway where a familiar face had just entered through. Mai's frown turned upside-down as she caught Gene's eyes, one of her allies against Naru.

"You'll never guess what your brother did to me today," Mai exclaimed exuberantly, making a huff sound as she crossed her arms. Gene gasped in fake disbelief, "My brother? Doing something not kind? To you of all people? I'm shocked, Noll," Gene shook his head at his brother, tsking occasionally.

"I had made the biggest, and I mean the BIGGEST bubble of bubblegum EVER, and he just strolls right in and pops it!" Mai threw her arms up in the air dramatically as Gene took a seat at his desk situated directly in front of Mai. He turned around in his chair and gave her a pouty, lip-out frown.

"You two are ridiculous," Naru scoffed from the side. "You have no proof that I was the one who popped it anyways. Maybe it was due to your own negligence."

"Says the one with the sharp pencil poised for the kill of my bubble." She stuck her tongue out at Naru. They probably would have argued longer had it not been for their teacher entering the room, silencing the class immediately, and beginning to teach right on the dot. She was never late or early, always preciously on time.

"Today, we will begin numerical analysis," the teacher spoke monotonically. The class, except Naru, began shuffling for their books and flipping to the pages of importance. Mai slowly found the right page and tried her best to keep with her teacher, but after she fell too far behind in her notes she turned to daydreaming. She doodled aimlessly in her copybook and gazed over at Naru's book from time to time. He didn't even have out a math book. It looked to be written in Latin, but she didn't really know for sure. Something foreign was all she could tell. " _Jerk doesn't even pay attention in class because he's just soooo smart. Show off."_ She rolled her eyes and looked up at the board, quickly trying to copy down all of what the teacher had written, occasionally shifting from side to side to see around Gene. " _Why do I always decide to sit in the back? I'm too short to see the board from all the way back here."_ She decided to ask Michiru for her notes later. Thankfully, her teacher was more of a lecturer, which allowed her to drift off into la la land for as long as she wished.

Mai and Gene had met in middle school when they got paired up to do a project on one of the first days of school. Both Gene and Naru had transferred in 7th grade, for reasons they never explained to her, not that she really minded though. Gene warmed up nicely to her, but Naru continuously held his distance.

"Don't feel bad, he's like this around everyone," Gene would whisper in her ear to try and make her feel better about his stoical brother's actions. She gave him his infamous nickname after months of him judging her, boasting about his own intelligence and glaring at her. Both of the twins seemed to generate a following, their mysterious nature pulled people in and their looks may have also played a part in it. But no one seemed to spark their interest as much as the almost plain looking, ordinary brunette. Eventually, Naru warmed up to her too, but it wasn't as apparent as Gene. He tolerated her, which meant a lot coming from the one and only Oliver Davis. Mai was definitely the closest person to Naru, next to Gene of course. However, Mai didn't associate with the twins too much outside of school. She spent most of her time with Keiko and Michiru, whether having fun around Shibuya or conjuring up ghosts in the school's back rooms. Mai never learned much of Gene and Naru's backstory, she didn't want to pry and risk losing them as friends. Though, they didn't know about hers either. They all lived in a cloud of mystery, and that was fine with them.

Mai had to grow up very quickly after the death of her parents. She took a job at a small café in Shibuya where she made decent money, enough to support herself and live independently. Her employers were named Ayako and Takigawa, a unique pair to say the least. Though they argued like a married couple, they adamantly denied anything close to dating. Supposedly, both of their parents went 50/50 on the café and then just left it to their children. Supposedly. But that didn't concern Mai. She did her work and always knew she could rely on either of the two if she needed anything at all. They were somewhat like her parents, but no one could fill the hole that her parents' death left in her. Thankfully, neither Gene nor Naru nor any of her classmates came to the café. They had a few regulars, one of their most notable being a sweet Australian priest named John. He seemed way too young to be a priest, but Mai found out after questioning him that he was actually a lot older than anyone had thought. He always tipped Mai well and gave her helpful guidance. The café was like a home to her, a place where all her fears and sadness could melt away for just a while.

After work, she would make her way home to a small apartment complex. She lived on the second floor, room 14 to be exact. Her apartment contained nothing special. Her prized possession was a picture of her and her parents all together, smiling without any premonition of what the future would hold for them. She would talk to the picture as if they never had gone. She smiled sweetly as she did so, knowing the truth but not wanting to believe it. She kept a few household plants to keep her company, mainly small cacti though. She didn't want anything that would die easily, for reasons not needed to be explained. At home, Mai almost always left the TV on for background noise. She would sit down and do her homework and then pass out on the couch with her textbooks. She was never the best student, but she tried her hardest with everything. Every Thursday, Mai visited her parents grave and told them about her week. She frequently mentioned Gene and Naru, work, and her worry for her upcoming exams. Sometimes, she almost felt their hands on her back comforting her through the rough times. But that was silly, right? " _There's no way that is them…"_ She would tell herself as she would trek back to her apartment. Despite Keiko, Michiru, and her own experiences with the supernatural, she refused to believe her parents hadn't passed on yet.

"…ai, …ai, …Mai, MAI!"

Naru snapped his fingers in front of the girl's face next to him. Mai shot up straight in her chair, eyes open wide, looking around wildly. No one was around besides two almost identical faces. The only way to tell them apart were their facial expressions.

"Stupid," Naru half muttered, half smirked. He turned to grab his books and place them in his bag. The sky outside was orange and pink, and the clock on the wall read 5:12. Mai rubbed her eyes wondering about how she was able to fall asleep for so long.

"Naru was about to leave you behind," Gene whispered into her ear, "too bad he would never do such a thing." Mai's cheeks turned a light pink. " _Surely he's joking._ " Mai stood up and gathered her things. Naru leaned against the door post, gazing out the windows of the classroom behind her. The light from the windows in the hallway framed him well and gave him a sweet, soft kind of look. The light orange and pink highlighted the left side of him, making him seem less intimidating. For once, he seemed serene, like a perfect photo you would see on magazine covers. His far-off gaze and piecing blue eyes contrasted the light pinks and oranges almost too well.

"Take a picture, it will last longer," Naru's voice pierced the silence and snapped Mai out of her daze. The flustered brunette puffed out her red cheeks that thankfully were semi-hidden from the pink sky seeping in through the windows. Gene let out a small chuckle as he walked up to Mai's side, nudging her towards the door and walked alongside her as they made their way to the door. Naru turned to make his way out of the doorway, his black jacket rested in his right arm and his bag slung over his right shoulder. He kept his hands in his pants pockets and he silently walked down the hall, not caring to look back to see if his counterparts were following behind.

"Narcissistic, self-loving, cold-hearted," Mai started ranting softly as she followed him behind by a few feet. Sadly, she was unable to see how with every word her favorite narcissists smirk grew wider and wider.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading!_

 _Feel free to leave a review and also leave suggestions with any case ideas or ideas in general of what you would like to see!_

 _Also, I plan on including all of the characters eventually, but I have specific times I want to introduce them._

 _Thanks again! :)_


	2. 2 - English

_some cute stuff at the end of this one. :)_

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 15**

Mai had a rough night to say the least. Continuous nightmares mixed with the feeling of being watched kept her awake until eventually, she gave up on trying to get a good nights rest. She had a reoccurring nightmare about drowning, and every time she tried to swim up something would pull her back down further and further into the darkness until she could feel her lungs screaming for air. She always woke up gasping for air. When these nightmares would happen, she felt it helpful to confide in Gene. Sometimes she would text him early in the morning, and he would somehow always be there for her. Other times she would wait until Naru left the classroom to tell him. She didn't feel like having Naru use her nightmares against her as insults. Besides, Naru didn't seem like the kind of sympathetic and understanding person she needed to talk to. Mai found it strange that Gene knew so much about dreams, but she brushed it off as a possible hobby.

"Make sure you understand this, class. You will be having a small essay quiz on this tomorrow." The class let out an almost inaudible groan. Mai let her head fall flat to onto her book, half because of the lack of sleep and the other half because of her incomprehension of the topic.

"Putting your head on the book won't make you magically learn it. This isn't osmosis," Naru whispered to the defeated figure next to him. She rolled her head over slowly with a snarky grin," Wow thanks, that must be why it hasn't been working!"

"Mai, is there something you would like to share with the class?" She got busted by her teacher and immediately turned red.

"I, uh, think she was just asking Kazuya about the upcoming test," Gene quickly covered for her, knowing she had a rough night and his twin's antics definitely were not helping. Despite his try, Mai could still feel the hot stares of her classmates burn into her even when their teacher began to lecturing. She didn't even have to look up to see Naru's ever present smirk. The bell rang shortly after, giving the students a few minutes of break before they return to cramming their brain with impractical information. Gene turned around to Mai with a sympathetic smile, "I tried to save you there but…" Gene laughed nervously as Mai let out a long-awaited sigh.

"Do you even understand what we are learning?" Nothing seemed to come easy for Mai, despite long hours of studying nothing ever stuck. However, the case wasn't such for the person sitting beside her.

"How could it get any easier?" Naru asked, writing something down in his notebook.

"I wasn't even talking to you, eavesdropper," she sent him an angry look but he didn't seem to mind. She flung her arms in the air, "Oh, it's not fair! You don't even have the book out, yet still understand it front and back!" Mai pulled her legs up to her chest and placed her face in them.

"Because it's easy," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Well if it's sooo easy for you, Mr. Genius, why don't you teach it to me?" She snapped out at him, shooting a glare over at him to be met with his own set of blue eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Naru broke the silent tension.

"Fine, I will. After school." It took a moment for both Mai and Gene to register what just came out of Naru's mouth. Mai sat there shocked, Gene also shared a look of surprise on his face. Their chins both dropped as they looked at each other. The Great and Almighty Naru helping someone? Almost voluntarily? Absolutely shocking.

"And I appreciate the title too. You should use it more often," He smirked as he stood up and grabbed his jacket before striding out of the room coolly.

"Did that really just happen?" Mai sat dumbfounded as she looked at Gene. Gene only returned her look with one of his own, shrugging his shoulders and lifting his hands.

"Must be a full moon or something," he joked, "So, anyways. Tell me more about that nightmare."

A few minutes later, Mai's mind was still swirling with nervousness and shock. There were only a few hours left before the end of school. She began to wonder if he was even serious. " _Maybe he was joking just to get a reaction out of me,"_ She pondered before shaking the idea from her head that he could actually do something nice for her and stared at the textbook in front of her. Mai felt her cellphone buzz in her pocket, catching her off guard. She reached in her sweaters pocket to find the device she was looking her. Flipping it open, she saw a few new messages from her best friends in the classroom over.

[1:15PM] Michiru: OMG! Mai you didn't tell me you scored a date with Kazuya!

[1:16PM] Keiko: What! I haven't heard about this! :o

[1:16PM] Michiru: I overheard some girls from Mai's class talking about it! It's true, right?

[1:18PM] Michiru: Mai?

The brunette rolled her eyes. She found it funny how rumors evolve and spread. " _Looks like Naru wasn't the only eavesdropper."_

[1:19PM] Mai: Sorry to disappoint, but you've got it wrong. He's helping me study for a quiz tomorrow

[1:20PM] Keiko: Study must be a code word for something

[1:20PM] Mai: I swear, you guys would be the first to know if anything happened. But it didn't, and never will! This isn't one of those high school anime dramas

[1:21PM] Mai: I'll text you guys when class is over for the day

Mai slipped her phone back into her pocket and noticed that a certain narcissist had returned to the classroom and was looking over at her. She furrowed her brows and mumbled, "What do you want?" Naru just turned back to his book, sparing her not another second of attention. Their next teacher walked in and wasted no time before teaching. Mai looked around to find the page they were now on, hoping not to fall behind this time.

Time came and went, and before she knew it the school bell rang out to signify the ending of classes for the day. Mai looked Naru out of the corner of her eye to see what he was going to do. " _Maybe it really was just a joke… No way would Naru help me."_ She laughed at herself, thinking about how stupid she must be to have believed his offer. Gene rose out of his seat and gave Mai a small smile before heading over to his twin's desk to talk. She checked her phone and replied to Keiko and Michiru before packing the books she would need in order to study and grabbing her sweater from the back of her chair. " _I should really buy a new jacket, it's getting too cold this now."_ Shrugging, she picked up her bag and began to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Naru looked over his shoulder to see Mai almost through the door.

"Uh… home? Where else would I be…" Mai's voice trailed off as she realized, " _Oh, my God. He wasn't kidding."_ Naru smirked as if he had read her mind, grabbed his textbook and jacket, and walk past Mai giving her an 'are you coming?' kind of look. Gene gave Mai a good luck wave before he too went to grab his things. Mai followed behind Naru as he gracefully made his way through the crowd of students, glaring at anyone who didn't move out of his way. Mai apologized to those individuals for his rude behavior while still keeping pace with the narcissist. Eventually, he led her to a door, and when pushed open it revealed a set of stairs. Mai haven't been here before. She curiously followed Naru up the stairs.

"Are students allowed up here? I've never seen this before…" Mai waited for an answer, but it never came. At the top of the stairs, another door stood in their path. Naru pushed it open, not caring to hold it for the petite brunette behind him, and strode out into the fresh air. Sun poured into the once dark stairwell, fresh fall air filled her nose, the crisp air brushed tenderly against her skin.

"I never knew there was a stairwell to the rooftop!" Mai bounced out of the door and rushed over to the edge where she leaned over the side of the building, looking down at all the students making their way to somewhere not here.

"Don't get too close to the edge. Knowing you, you will probably fall over," Naru said, leaning back on the wall near the door they had just emerged from. Mai spun around with an angry sigh, and crossed her arms.

"I'm not suicidal…" She muttered grumpily before stomped over to him and sat down on the cold concrete. She picked her English textbook out of her bag and set it on her lap. Naru took a seat next to her and mirrored her actions.

"Since it will be an essay exam, you will be more than likely be tested on your ability to form proper, grammatically correct sentences," Naru started in a monotone voice. Mai nodded and glanced down at the pages of the book that all seemed to be gibberish.

"Now, try to describe something you see, and we will go from there."

After seemingly forever for Mai, Naru sighed almost in defeat. He couldn't understand how it was so difficult for her. Sure, he may have been fluent in English from a young age but it wasn't that hard to learn truthfully. Mai held her face in her hands, waving the white flag of surrender.

"I just don't get it," she groaned. "Why is everything so easy for you," she complained.

"I was raised speaking English," he explained, staring off into the sky.

"Really? You never told me that…" She looked at him curiously. " _Why not Japanese?"_ She wondered but didn't want to ask.

"This language is dumb anyways," she pouted, stretching out her arms and legs. Why did verbs need to be conjugated? And what's the difference between a direct object and indirect object? She just couldn't get it. She looked up at the sky. The sun was close to the horizon, she guessed the time to be quarter before six. A few darker clouds hung in the distant sky. The once cool air had turned to cold and the gusts of wind didn't help. She shivered and tried to warm herself up by rubbing her hands on her arms. " _I knew I should have bought a heavy jacket instead of a sweater. Maybe I can go to the store with Keiko and Michiru over the weekend… wait scratch that, I have work."_ While caught up in her mental conversation, the feeling of cold was replaced with warmth. She now found her shoulders adorned with a black jacket. She gave Naru an inquisitive look before he spoke, "If you freeze to death you won't be able to take the quiz tomorrow." She opened her mouth to retort but realized her pride could suffer a bit instead of facing the harsh cold. Naru cleared his throat before beginning to explain verb tenses again and ignoring the girl's now rosy cheeks next to him.

It was not too long after that Naru closed his textbook with a snap. A shadow stood in the way of where light once was. She looked up from her book and saw Naru standing.

"Where are you going?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side. She went to stand up too, but the jacket on her shoulders fell to the ground from the sudden movement.

"Go home and try to study some vocabulary. I think you know enough to pass now," he said walking back over to the door and opening it to exit the roof. Mai scrambled to gather the black jacket along with her things and ran to the door to try and catch up. Almost tripping down the steps, she rushed down the hall to exit the school. Bursting out the main entrance doors, she saw Naru walking down the pathway towards the road.

"Wait!" She called out to him, panting as she ran. Curse his long legs, they carried him farther and faster than her own.

"Here," she said, sticking out her hand that held his jacket in it, "Thanks…" she said as she in between gasps of air. He only shook his head.

"Keep it for now. Tell your parents to buy you a warmer coat," he turned around and continued walking and eventually turned the corner and went out of view. Mai stood there shocked, the black jacket gently blowing in the breeze. She squeezed the jacket in her hand, half angry at his pity towards her but also half happy at the kind gesture. She pulled the jacket into her chest and hugged it for a second. It was soft and warm, almost the exact opposite of Naru. It smelled like tea and a soft hint of lavender. She stood there in a trance until her cellphone began to ring in her pocket.

"Oh, man," Mai muttered as she read the caller ID. Sprinting out of the school and onto the sidewalk, she picked it up with a, "I know I'm late I'm so sorry I'll be there in ten minutes!"

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Please leave a review~_

 _I already have the next chapter written so hopefully I'll be posting that tomorrow._


	3. 3 - Time for Tea

_beep beep more cute stuff ahead. ;)_

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 15**

Ayako and Bou-san attended to customers at the counter, frequently looking up at the wall clock. They sent each other glances of question and worry.

"I think we should call her," Monk said as he passed by the red-haired priestess.

"I'm sure she is fine, she's only 15 minutes late. Probably got caught up with something at school," she rationed, trying to push her own worry aside.

An additional 20 minutes passed before Ayako agreed with Bou-san's idea. After serving coffee to one of their most frequent patrons, Ayako strode over to the side where she pulled out her phone and scrolled down her contacts until she found Mai's name. Without having to say a word, she could hear Mai's frantic voice through the receiver, " _I know I'm late I'm so sorry I'll be there in five minutes_!"

"It's alright, Mai. Just be careful and be safe getting over here. Take your time, don't rush and end up tripping, I know how clumsy you are," Ayako said very matronly-like.

" _Ok, ok. I'll be there in a few. See ya!"_

And with a click, the call ended. Ayako looked out of the many large windows their café had and saw dark, ominous storm clouds rolling in quickly. In the background, the TV channel had been turned on to the news where they were giving the weather report.

"We recommend you folks find a place to stay indoors until the storm passes. It will only last up to two hours, but it will be wicked," the weatherman said.

" _I hope she makes it here before the storm does,"_ she thought to herself. She gave Bou-san an 'everything is alright' nod, and went back to serving customers.

Only a few minutes passed before the rain began to trickle down, and it took almost no time before it was impossible to see a foot in front of your face. The rain came down hard, driving people lingering on the street quickly into the café for shelter. However, the one face the owners wanted to see hadn't shown up yet. Bou-san made more coffee for their newly arrived customers. Lightening flashed in the sky, drawing almost everyone's attention to the windows. Not long after, a silhouette of a girl appeared through the rain. She held a jacket over her head in an attempt to shield herself from the rain. When she emerged through the doors, it was obvious the jacket did not help very much.

"Mai! Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Bou-san embraced Mai into a big hug.

"Get off of her, not only are you going to crush her, you're going to get yourself all wet!" Ayako wacked him with her purse and the monk quickly retreated backwards, holding his head.

"How does she always have that thing…" He muttered to himself, "I'm glad you're safe Mai, but you should call us when you're going to be late. I was worried something might have happened to you!"

"I'm super sorry, time really escaped me this time," Mai replied with a nervous laugh. Ayako held a fresh, dry pair of clothes in front of her.

"I'm not sure how well this will fit, but you'll get sick if you stay in that wet uniform any longer," Ayako's doctor side shown through as she led Mai to the back storage room where she could change in peace.

"Thanks, Ayako," Mai smiled up at her.

"Where did you get that jacket?" Ayako asked, eyeing her up. Mai's cheeks turned a light pink as she stammered out, "Oh, uh, this? Hehe, I just… I found it! Yeah, in school. Thought I should find who it belonged to, you know. Looks expensive too, probably something someone wouldn't wanna lose."

"Oh, Mai. You really do need to become a better liar," Ayako chuckled and before walking out the door. She stopped right before exiting and said, "Oh, and you better be ready to tell me the truth when you finish changing." The door closed with a click and left Mai alone in the backroom filled with coffee beans and other supplies they needed in the café. She quickly stripped of her soaking clothes and put on the dry ones, mumbling something about how much she hates the rain and how luck never works in her favor. She found an old towel that she used to dry her dripping wet hair. Mai carefully hung Naru's jacket over a box and spread it out evenly in hopes it would dry quickly. She decided it would be necessary to wash it before giving it back to its rightful owner.

Mai left the storage room with a chipper smile and a cheery attitude despite having just been caught in a torrential downpour. She went right to work, serving only the hottest of coffees and teas while chatting up the customers. She loved hearing what everyone had to say, everyone's story was different and unique. The café was like a little ball of light in the darkness that was the storm outside. Occasionally, the lights would flicker a bit or the power would turn out momentarily but that never seemed to stop the joy inside. Mai chatted with John for most of her shift. He sat at the counter so they could talk easily without Mai having to go too far.

"Does it rain like this ever in Australia?" Mai asked curiously as she started to make a fresh pot of tea. John chuckled a little bit before replying, "Australia doesn't get much rain, it's almost like one big desert. Only Antarctica receives less rainfall than Australia. But, there was one time I was trapped in the Church for a few hours because of a heavy downpour, but that's the only rain I can really think of there." Mai placed the tea in front of him while asking, "So, do you like the weather here better than Australia?" John thought for a moment.

"I suppose here is better. I love snow which we don't get to see too often in my home town." Mai made an 'oh' shape with her mouth.

"Yeah snow is very lovely, especially here in Tokyo," she smiled at the thought of a perfectly white snow, untouched by humanity covering the roads and walkways.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a customer called for Mai's attention.

"One second!" She yelled back with a smile.

"Don't miss me," she teased to John with a laugh. John smiled back at her and looked out the window once she walked away. The rain seemed to be letting up finally after about two hours.

The rain eventually stopped and by then, it was time to go home. The cafe had been closed, so Mai was collecting empty cups and mugs from tables, then returning them to the kitchen to be cleaned. She hummed as she worked, bouncing from side to side with each step. Mai walked into the storage room to collect her things, putting on both of her jackets and grabbing her bag. She double checked everything to make sure it was in order before she walked back out.

Ayako and Monk stood in the small kitchen washing dishes and mugs side by side.

"Did you see that jacket Mai had on today?" Ayako asked with a devious smile.

"Yeah, is that new? It looks a little big for her," Monk replied nonchalantly. Ayako chuckled before echoing one of Monk's nightmares, "I think she got it… from a boy." Monk gasped and almost dropped a mug.

"There's no way my precious little Mai could be concerned with some boy! All they are is trouble! I should, I am one!" He looked at Ayako flabbergasted. Ayako shrugged, "Just a thought." They both continued scrubbing the dishes in silence, the same thing obviously on their minds.

"You don't think it could be the boy she talks about, right? What is his name again? Natsuko? Iru?" Monk struck a thinking pose as he really racked his brain for the answer.

"Naru," Ayako answered without missing a beat, "His name is Naru." A ghost of a smile graced her face.

Bag in hand, Mai pushed open the storage room door. As she did she heard the bell of the door ring.

"I'm sorry but we're closed n-" Mai looked up and stopped mid-sentence.

"N-N-Naru! What are you doing here?" She stammered with her sentence and reached out and pointed at him with her finger, as if she couldn't believe he were there. He was wearing his school uniform still, but minus the jacket for reasons being.

"I didn't know you worked here," he replied coolly and started to walk around the place as if he were inspecting it.

"We're kinda closed now…" she trailed off as she debated whether or not to serve him one last drink of the night. " _He did give you his jacket, Mai. Call it even now."_ She nodded to herself before moving behind the counter and plopping her bag next to it.

"Buuuut you did help me out earlier so I guess we are even now," she smiled lightly over to him. He walked over and took a seat on the stool in front of her, placing his elbows on the counter and resting his chin on his hands. He looked out the window to his left. His clothes seemed slightly damp, but that could have just been due to poor lighting. Mai tapped her fingers in a rolling motion and took in a breath.

"What can I get cha?" She asked in a sweet voice, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Tea. Earl Grey," he spoke calmly. Mai nodded and turned around where she grabbed a tea kettle and placed it on the stove with water to boil. There was an awkward pause in between the two. Mai thought Naru wouldn't be the one to initiate conversation so she tried her hand at it.

"Why are you out so late? It's almost ten," she fidgeted with her fingers and swayed back and forth on her feet. It dawned on her that she had never seen Naru outside of school before.

"My favorite café moved to another part of the city earlier this week, I'm trying to find a new place," he said naturally. Mai accepted his answer, but couldn't tell if he was serious or not. " _Maybe he has some sort of tea addiction that I never knew of… Wouldn't surprise me considering I know close to nothing about him."_

"I see you like the jacket," he motioned to her new jacket that was a few sizes too big on her.

"Oh, ahh, yeah I guess you could say that, haha, it's just, umm, really cold in here sometimes! You know… especially with the rain and stuff," she laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck. Thankfully, the teapot rang out. " _Phew, saved by the bell."_

Ayako paused in washing a mug when she heard the scream of a teapot kettle. She questioned if she even heard it for a second, but decided to go check just in case. She peaked outside of the kitchen door when she saw Mai and a strange boy together by the counter. But it was not just any strange boy. No, Ayako immediately knew who it was. Her eyes lit up as she had to contain herself from saying anything.

"Oh, my goodness, it's happening," she spoke softly to herself before walking back over to the sink with a huge grin on her face.

"What's the look for?" Monk raised an eyebrow to her.

"Okay, don't freak out... but Mai is with a boy," Ayako squeaked.

"What! You mean-" Ayako quickly covered his mouth and shh'ed him.

"Come on, you've heard her talk about him! I will not let you ruin this for her!" She spoke in a hushed tone and glared at him, and if looks could kill, Monk might not have been alive to tell. He crept over to the door and peered out to see the two there, chatting seemingly nonchalantly. Monk held his chest as if he were having a heart attack.

"She's growing up right before our eyes," he said, teared up.

"Tsk, pull yourself together, you weird man-baby," Ayako hit him lightly on the shoulder. Had it not been for the two closely outside the door, she would have wacked him with all she could. But just this once she could make an exception, just for Mai.

Mai turned around with two steaming cups of earl grey tea is her hands. She placed one in front of the after hours customer and took the other for herself. " _Wow, no thank you? I guess I shouldn't have been expecting one."_ She sighed, realizing a 'thank you' was never coming, and took a sip of the tea. The smell in the air and the warm cup in her hands were calming.

"Where's Gene?" Mai questioned, normally the two went as a pair.

"Home," was all he said before taking another sip. Mai nodded and set her cup down as it began to get too hot in her hands.

"I guess you two must not live far from here then?" She tried desperately to make conversation.

"Are you going to try and stalk me?" He asked not looking up from his cup. Her face turned a shade of pink before she could retaliate.

"As if! I could ask you the same thing! I'm not the one who just showed up to your work after hours!" She exhaled deeply as something caught her attention from the corner of her eye, in the kitchen door way to be exact. " _Ohhh if those two are spying I swear- "_

"Here. This should cover it," Naru held some yen out in front of him and he stood up.

"Oh no, no, it's on the house," she smiled and shook her hands in front of her. She grabbed his empty and her practically empty cup and returned them to the kitchen. Ayako and Monk stood there, acting like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, whistling as they cleaned.

"You guys aren't invisible you know," she spoke quietly with a grin to them before walking back out. She was surprised to see Naru still there. He held her bag in his hands, and passed it to her when she got into arm's length reach.

"Thanks," she said, taken off guard a little. He only nodded before turning to walk out, the bell chiming as the door opened. Mai followed behind him out the door.

"I, uh, guess I'll see you tomorrow then!" she tried to seem cheery despite being slightly nervous and exhausted from the day. Mai started walking the opposite way he went before she heard him call for her.

"For the tea... thanks. Good luck in your exam tomorrow," he said before turning back around and walking the way he originally intended on. Mai stood there and complete and utter shock. Her eyes almost bulged out of her head. All the words she had ever learned were stuck her throat. Mai almost forgot to breathe as she watched him stroll down the sidewalk as calm and cool as he walked into the café. Mai smacked herself on the cheek lightly before making her way down the road towards her home. A small smile crept onto her face as she was still in disbelief of what she had just heard. " _Keiko and Miruchi will never believe what just happened!"_

When nearing her home, she placed her hands in the jacket pockets to shield them from the harsh wind. She stopped when she felt something plastic-like in the right pocket. She gripped it gingerly and pulled it out slowly and look at the small objects in the middle of her palm. They were individually wrapped caramels. " _Who would have thought Naru would be the kind of person to carry these around?"_ The thought of Naru secretly hiding caramels in his jacket made her giggle. She shrugged and popped one into her mouth, the sweet flavor bursting in her mouth as she sucked on it. " _I guess, maybe he is a little bit more human than I had though before."_

* * *

 _Thanks for reading!_

 _The next chapter is pretty long, so it might take me a few days to get it all done. Hopefully I'll have it up by Thursday or Friday._

 _Big thanks to **okaysunshine** and_ _**Sesshy's Rose**_ _for reviewing! I hope you continue to enjoy my story. Also thanks to everyone who's followed 'n favorited. :)_

 _Please review, and have a wonderful night/day._


	4. 4 - The Lily and the Lilac

_choo choo get ready for the long haul because this is a two parter probably maybe yeah it is '_'_

* * *

 **Thursday, October 16 [AM]**

Humming while she changed into her uniform from her pajamas, Mai couldn't help but replay her encounter with Naru over and over. She wondered if she should tell Gene about it, but figured Naru would tell him once he arrived home. For the first time in a few days, Mai got a great sleep with no nightmares. She couldn't recall a time where she felt more energized and ready for the day. Upon returning home last night, the brunette teenager washed Naru's jacket in preparation to return it to him today. She decided to wear it one last time in to school this morning since temperatures were supposed to be low.

Everything Mai saw on her walk to school seemed to be more vibrant today. The birds sung louder and the people on the streets all appeared to be smiling, her mood was great. She bounced down the street, eating another one of the caramels from the jacket's pocket.

" _Hopefully he won't notice a few are missing,"_ she giggled to herself as she neared to school's gates.

She walked into her class where she found Naru and Gene's desks vacant.

" _That's strange, they always get here before me,"_ Mai plopped down her bag on her desk and placed her temporary jacket on the back of her chair so it wouldn't wrinkle. Bored with no one to argue with, she pulled out her phone to play a game on to pass the time.

" _There's only a few minutes until class starts… There's no way they could be late,"_ Mai tapped her foot as she watched the clock move from 7:54 to 7:55 to 7:56. She could hear running faintly in the hallway as the steps approached, getting louder and louder. Gene came rushing into the class panting, looking up at the clock and let out a small, "Yes!" upon seeing he was indeed not late. The whole class stopped for a second to look at the commotion before they returned to what they were doing originally.

"Gene! Are you okay?" Mai got up out of her seat and walked over to him, concern laced in her chestnut brown eyes. Gene gave her a thumbs up as he tried to regain his breath. Mai led him over to his desk so he could be more comfortable.

"Man, I've never come so close to being late!" Gene's breathing became steadier as he stripped of his jacket. Mai kept the door in the corner of her eye, hoping to see Gene's other half sprint through too.

"What happened?" Mai asked, still worried. " _Maybe he was running from muggers, or a stray dog chased him, or his train was late or-"_

"I forgot to set my alarm after Noll came home last night," he sighed, "You'll never believe what happened!" Gene sounded worn out. Without waiting for a response, he continued, "That moron came home last night in damp clothes! I suspected it was from the rain, but I didn't understand why he didn't return sooner to change clothes nonetheless. After a while he started sneezing and coughing. I took his temperature, and he had a fever! I've never seen himself be so irresponsible as to get himself sick" Gene shook his head as he looked down at his lap.

"And the worst part! He came home without his-" Gene suddenly paused in his sentence, eyeing the back of Mai's chair.

"… without his jacket," Gene finished as he looked up at Mai whose face was now a light pink. There was a pause of silence between the two.

"Oh, my God," Gene said breathily with a smile emerging on his face.

"No, no, no, no, it's not what you think!" Mai waved her hands in front of her rapidly. Gene pretended not to hear her and whipped out his phone.

"Mom and Madoka are going to LOVE this," he mumbled under his breath and swung side to side happily in his seat.

"It's just because it was really cold! And I only had my sweater! It's not-" Mai was cut off when their teacher slid open the door. Everyone was immediately silent, Gene stuffed his phone in his pocket, and everyone stood to greet the teacher. Mai clenched her fist and tried to get Gene's attention by staring intently at his back and calling him in her mind.

" _Gene! Look at meeeee, it's not what you think!"_

Gene suddenly spun around and looked at her, eyes opened wide and staring directly into hers. It was almost if he heard her. Mai was caught off guard from his sudden action, furrowing her brows together in questioning.

"Gene, Mai, please take your seats," the teacher motioned to them. They did as asked. Their 'conversation' would have to wait until later.

Mai tapped her pencil absentmindedly while looking over at the empty desk next to her. Somehow, time seemed to move ever so slowly without someone to antagonize her. She felt a little guilty about his sickness, she was unable to think of another time where Naru had missed school. " _Maybe I should bring him his books or something to make up for it…"_ Shrugging, she thought, " _He probably doesn't want to be seen sick. And see the person who got him sick, at that."_ The sound of fluttering papers pulled her from her subconscious, Gene twisted in his seat to place a paper on her desk. It was their quiz. Mai took a deep breath before beginning it. It had been set up just as Naru had said, a question at English in the top and then blank lines meant to be used for writing. 'Write about something you love,' was all it said. Without thinking too much, she just began to write and write and write and hope that it was correct. She let her intuition guide her hand.

About a half an hour later, the bell rang and the students put down their pencils. They walked up to the front of the room to hand in their papers. Mai nudged Gene and ask what he had written about.

"Oh, you know, just like world peace and the environment," he said with a chuckle. Mai rolled her eyes with a smile and went back to her desk. It was time for their longest break, being 40 minutes that students usually used to eat, but Mai found herself at a loss since she normally just stayed and sat with Naru and Gene. The latter had disappeared of to who knows where, so Mai found herself alone. She decided to head over to the opposite room to talk with Keiko and Michiru for a bit. Walking into the classroom, she heard her name be called but was not expecting who it was from.

"Over here!" Yasuhara waved to her with a large grin on his face. He sat with Masako, who she tended to butt heads with often. She walked over slightly reluctant.

"Hey guys, have you seen Keiko and Michiru?" Yasuhara held his heart as if he had been shot.

"Mai doesn't even want to talk with us," he looked over at Masako with teary eyes.

"Oh no, it's not that. I just needed to tell them something," she looked around for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. She pulled a chair over and sat next to the pair.

"Long time no see! We missed your visits," Yasuhara had a strange talent to change his emotions almost in seconds.

"Speak for yourself," Masako scoffed, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

"Great to see you too, Masako," Mai spoke dryly.

"Where's the twins?" Yasuhara pushed up with glasses.

"Naru's sick, Gene's disappeared," Mai said with a shrug.

"Naru's sick? I didn't even think he could get sick! I thought he could just glare at the germs and they would go far, far away," the boy looked astonished. Even a small bit of disbelief hung in Masako's eyes.

"I guess he's actually more human than we had thought," Mai shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, like you know anything about him," Masako stood up and headed for the doors. Anger grew on Mai's face as she clenched her fist. Yasuhara held her back from springing on the girl. Mai plopped back down in her seat with a, "humph."

"Soooo, what have you been up to, Ms. Taniyama?" The girl in question reached up her arms to stretch.

"Phew, it's been a crazy few days. I could really use a break," she confided. Yasuhara snapped his fingers together.

"Well, we haven't hung out in a while, so maybe we can get a group together and go hang out somewhere this weekend!" Yasuhara look hopeful.

"As much as I would love to, I have work each day," a sad smile fell on her face.

"Ohh come on, Mai! I'm sure you can get a day off! If they don't give you one, they'll have to deal with me then," he held up a fist in the air, trying to seem tough. Mai couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"I'll try, I promise. Do you have anywhere particular in mind?"

"Don't you worry about a thing, I'll plan everything out," he said with a wink.

" _This could either be a very bad or very good thing…"_

"Well don't plan anything until I'm sure I can get a day off," she smiled softly, pulling her phone out from her pocket. Ayako was directly at the top of her contact list.

[12:52PM] Mai: Hey Ayako, would it be possible to have one day off this weekend? If not, it's cool

Mai put her phone down, not expecting to get a quick answer.

"The deed is done," she informed Yasuhara, "now, we wait." The two sat and chatted for a bit, waiting for Mai's phone to buzz. Once it did, Mai quickly snapped it open to check the answer. She held it in between the two so they could both read it.

[1:11PM] Ayako: Of course! Which day?

Mai looked up at Yasuhara for an answer. After pondering for a second, he answered, "Tell her Saturday."

"Aye, aye, captain," Mai saluted before texting back.

[1:12PM] Mai: Saturday would be best. Thanks so much!

"Now you have no excuse not to go," Yasuhara purred beside her.

"I'll give you more details when I figure everything out," he said with a wink.

"Alright, Alright. But nothing weird!"

"No promises." Mai rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I better get back to my class. If you see Keiko or Michiru, can you tell them to text me?"

"Anything for you, Mai!" He gave her a large grin as she walked out of the room and into her own. She noticed Gene was already back and seemed to be taking an interest in the jacket on her chair. Mai quietly snuck over to Gene before popping out behind with a, "Boo!" Gene jumped, startled by her sudden presence. He looked at her and exhaled deeply while he smiled.

"What cha lookin' at there?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Heh… nothing," he began to back away slowly to his desk.

"Mhmm, that's what I thought," Mai walked over to her own desk and sat down.

"Oh, by the way, Gene," Mai laced her fingers together nervously, "Do you think you could give the jacket back to Naru when you go home?" She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I think you should give it to him yourself," the ghost of a smile graced his lips.

"W-what? You can't be serious! Gene, pleeeeeeeaaaaseeeee," she begged. Gene just laughed, answering, "Actually, I can walk with you home from school and we can go to my house and you can return it in person!"

Mai leaned in her chair and let her head fall back.

"Alright, fine," she conceded. "But we might have to make a pit stop or two along the way."

The end of the day went much quicker than the beginning. Nervousness, hopefulness, and wonder all stirred in her gut. Gene waited by her desk while she packed up her things and grabbed the jacket from the back of her chair.

"You're not going to wear it?" Gene pointed to the jacket.

"Well I just washed it so I could give it back all nice and clean," she brought it up to her eye level to get a good look at it, making sure it was spotless.

"Nevermind that, Noll won't mind. He gave it to you for a reason after all," Gene snatched it from her hand and held it up behind her so she could easily slip her arms through it.

"Lent it to me," she corrected him, "He didn't give me it."

"Sure, sure whatever you say. Come on, put it on." She hesitated a bit before she eventually gave into Gene's hopeful gaze. She couldn't help but feel a little silly and embarrassed since it was way too big on her.

"If you ever tell anyone about this, I'll kill you," she glared daggers at him.

"I'm sure you will. Let me carry that for you," he grabbed her bag for her off her desk and held it in his hand. They began to walk out of the class before Mai spoke, "Are you sure you and Naru are really brothers? How'd you two end up being so polar opposite?" Gene just laughed and scratched his head.

"I'm still not really sure about that one," he confessed.

"You talked about a pit stop, right? Where to first?"

"You'll see," she said with a smile.

About 10 minutes later, they had rounded the corner to their first destination, a small flower shop. Gene figured she was buying them for Naru, so he didn't ask questions and only watched her as she walked through the rows of flower. After inspecting a few bouquets, she found the perfect one and bought it. She smiled as she looked at the flowers' vibrant colors, bouncing from side to side as she walked down the street. Gene couldn't help but smile too when he looked down at the girl by his side. She chatted aimlessly to him, and he just let her go on and on, smiling and nodding as she told him about her favorite flowers and her detailed explanations behind them.

"Even though daffodils are pretty, I think my favorite flower would have to be the lily. Especially the red colored ones with white around the edges. They're my mom's favorite, too. They tend to be rather expensive though, so I can't buy them very often. But it's free to stop and look at them anyways. I've always wanted to get a lily plant, but I'm afraid I won't be able to care for it properly. You know, I heard there's a lily garden right here in Tokyo! I really hope one day I'll be able to go there. Couldn't you imagine just having a nice picnic by the lilies with a nice book to sit and read while listening to the lilies blow in the wind? Maybe you could find one of those fat, fuzzy, colorful caterpillars sitting in the flower," Mai didn't even seem to care if Gene listened or not, she just seemed to be content having someone with her.

"My favorite is the lilac. I think Noll's is the bellflower," he inserted into the conversation just so she knew he was listening.

"The lilac, huh? I would have never pegged you as a lilac kinda guy," she looked him up and down like she had just noticed something she didn't see before. They kept walking a little bit further before they rounded a corner and arrived at their first destination.

"Here we are!" Mai smiled and walked through the gates.

"Uhh, why are we at a graveyard?" Gene's eyebrows furrowed together, trying to figure out why they were here. He began to rethink that the flowers were for Naru.

"I come here every Thursday," she looked back at him if nothing were strange about the situation.

"But... why?" Gene walked a step behind Mai, slightly apprehensive. He felt something off with the atmosphere.

"You'll see, you'll see. We're almost there," she began walking down a row of graves. She stopped in front of a set of headstones and cleared her throat.

"Mom, Dad. This is my friend, Gene," Mai motioned to Gene next to her, "he was nice enough to come with me today. Well, I guess he didn't have a choice but…" she smiled and bent over to place the flowers on the headstones. Gene stood there shocked.

"Mai, you never told me…"

"Yeah, I know. The whole 'my parents are actually dead' thing never really comes up naturally in a conversation. Sorry if this is kind of sudden. I only come once a week and I can't miss it," she looked a little guilty for dragging him here without telling him where they were going.

"No, I'm glad," He placed a supportive hand on her back, knowing this couldn't be easy for her.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Taniyama," Gene bowed in front of the headstones.

"I think you would be very proud of your daughter if you could see her now," he pulled her close to him to give her a side hug.

They both paid their respects and talked about their week but exiting the cemetery.

"One more place to stop," Mai fidgeted with the end of the jacket sleeves that went almost past her fingertips, "it's not too far from here." Gene nodded and followed her lead.

They walked up to the café where Mai worked. Ayako greeted her when she walked in, but didn't expect to see the man behind her to be there too.

"Oh, you're back," Ayako said to Gene. Gene looked genuinely confused and look from Ayako to Mai and back to Ayako.

"No, no. Ayako, this is Gene," Mai walked over to the counter, grabbing a teapot and pouring water into it.

"Excuse my mistake, you two really do look identical!" Ayako served him a cup of coffee as he sat at the counter.

"You… have seen Noll before?" Gene was slowly connecting the dots. Before Ayako could answer, she was called over by a customer. Mai turned around and leaned on the counter opposite him.

"Oh, this is where I work. Forgot to mention that," Everything suddenly clicked in his head. " _So, this is where Noll was yesterday…"_

Monk emerged from the kitchen and was quick to spot the other twin opposite Mai.

"You again? At least you're within hours this time," Mai shot a look over a him and Gene sat there smiling uncomfortably. Ayako walked over to the monk and jabbed him in the ribs and spoke through her teeth while still keeping a smile, "Not the same twin as yesterday."

"Oops," he scratched his neck awkwardly. The teapot Mai set on the stove began to whistle. She made earl grey tea like she had for Naru yesterday, but instead placed the steaming liquid into a container to carry.

"Alright, ready to go home when you are," she grinned seemingly satisfied. Gene went to pull out his wallet, but Mai stopped him abruptly.

"It's on the house," Mai grabbed the container of tea and began to walk towards the door. Gene followed close behind.

"Oh!" Mai ran back behind the counter as if she had forgotten something. She pulled a caramel muffin out from the glass case that kept their breads and pastries. She packaged it in a white paper bag, then ran back to the door where Gene stood.

"Bye Ayako, Monk!" Mai waved to them before stepping out the door.

"Be safe, Mai! Nice to meet you, Gene," Ayako waved back with a devious smile. The door closed with a jingle of the bell.

"I don't like these boys around our Mai," Monk said, narrowing his eyes at the boy just outside through the window. Ayako gave him a good whack and then returned to her job.

"Your turn to lead the way!" Mai gestured to the sidewalk in front of them.

"Is that stuff for Noll?" Gene asked as he began walking towards home. He noticed the girl's cheeks turned to pink when she looked down at the container.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I feel like I should bring a 'I'm sorry for indirectly getting you sick' gift and I didn't think they would have that on a sympathy card," Mai hugged the hot bottle, warming her hands and the part of her chest it was placed against.

The pair walked down the same path for a couple of minutes before they came up to a gated neighborhood development. In order to enter, Gene had to scan a card that unlocked a section of the gate. He pushed it and held it open for the girl behind him. She smiled at him in thanks as she stepped through.

"I've never been in a gated community before," she looked around at all the houses.

"Seriously?" He looked at her as if she was joking. She shook her head innocently.

"My old house and apartment is all I've ever known," she admitted sadly.

"What about your relatives? Surely you've been to their houses."

"No, I don't have any relatives." Gene almost stopped in his tracks. His heart dropped to his stomach and he was filled with sadness and pity for the girl.

"I'm sorry I had no idea," Gene stumbled upon a few of his words, astonished he could even manage out the few he did.

"That's alright! It was hard at first, but now everything is okay," she smiled up at him in assurance. The twin wondered if his other half knew this side of Mai as well. They walked in silence for a moment before Gene broke it, "That's our house right there." He pointed down the block at a large contemporary home that looked more like a mansion to Mai.

"Woah, how many people live in that?" Her eyes opened wide, she had never met someone who lived in such a large house.

"Just Noll and I. Our guardian, Lin, lives in the house next to it," he pointed over to a smaller home compared to theirs. Mai's jaw practically dropped to the ground.

" _These kids must have some majorly rich parents,"_ was all Mai could think.

"Wait, guardian? What about your parents?"

"They live in England," Gene replied plainly as if it were a common known fact. The wheels slowly started to turn in Mai's head, " _That must be why Naru's fluent in English. I've learned way too many things about these people in the past few days."_ Mai rubbed one of her temples.

"Are you okay? Headache? We have medicine inside," Gene looked troubled by her sudden illness.

"Nah, just an itch," she tried to play it off. Gene seemed to accept her answer as they walked up to the door. Mai had a hard time believing only two people could live in this colossal 'home'.

They entered and took their shoes off, Mai also stripped of Naru's jacket and carried it over her arm.

"Noll! We have company, so don't be rude!" Gene called from the foyer. No response. He took the container and bag from Mai and walked off into what she presumed to be the kitchen.

"Nooooooolllll," Gene called, again no response.

Mai curiously walked down a hallway opposite the way Gene went, peeking into any open doors. The décor was tasteful and sleek looking. Mai stopped in front of a picture frame of young twins and what she guessed to be their parents. They all smiled expect for one of the little boys, which made it easy to tell the two apart.

" _So that's what their parents look like… But they aren't Japanese?"_ Something wasn't clicking in Mai's mind. She tried to make sense of it all when-

"Why are you here?" Naru asked emotionless at her side. Mai nearly jumped out of her skin.

"When did you get there?" Mai exhaled deeply.

"I could ask you the same," Naru crossed his arms. He didn't look sick, he wore his normal all black clothes with black slippers. Naru looked down at the black jacket she was holding.

"I see you've been putting it to work," he seemed smug as he talked about his jacket. She pursed her lips before she spoke, "Actually I came to return it." She extended her arm to him. He only looked at it and then back up to her.

"Well?" Mai shook her arm.

"I told you to keep it," he replied indifferently before turning and walking back the way Mai had come from.

" _You said no such thing,"_ Mai thought bitterly. She took one last look at the picture on the wall before following behind the stoical teenager.

"There you are!" Mai could hear Gene's voice but couldn't see him past Naru, so she leaned around him.

"And it looks like you've met our company!" he said with a smirk.

"How are you feeling? You don't look so sick anymore."

"You know I dislike surprises," Naru ignored his question and walked over to one of the many bookshelves in the living room before seating himself on the couch. Gene cleared his throat, calling Mai's attention. He motioned for her to join him in the kitchen. She began walking and looked over at Naru who suddenly pulled his head down to his book.

" _Was he looking at me?"_ She smirked. " _Busted."_

Gene placed a cup of warm tea in her one hand, and in the other the caramel muffin on a small plate.

"Go give it to him," he motioned her out into the living room.

"Why do I have to do it," she whined.

"Because it's your apology. Now go. Mush, mush," Gene was now literally pushing her by her shoulders out of the kitchen. Mai made her way reluctantly to Naru. She stood across the table where he sat and placed her offerings on it. He raised a brow at her.

"This is a 'sorry I indirectly got you sick' gift," he looked at each item, not saying anything.

"That's tea from the café, it's the same kind I made you last night. And I know you like caramel because it was in your coat's pocket, so I got a caramel muffin too," Mai stood there, rocking back and front on her feet. She waited for response from Naru. And waited. And waited.

"Is that everything you have to say?" Naru never broke his gaze from his book. Mai's eye twitched and she stood there still for another moment. She clenched her fist so tightly her knuckles turned white and she could feel her nails dig into her own skin.

"You are such a jerk! I cannot believe you sometimes! Do you have ANY kindness in you? I don't even know why I tried," she threw her arms in the air and stormed off to find the door and leave.

* * *

 _Not too much of a happy note this time, but I'll have the second part up soon!_

 _Thanks so much for reading, I appreciate it so very much. Please leave a review, and have a wonderful day/night! :)_


	5. 4 pt 2 - Lily and the Bellflower

_splish splash, here part two for youuuu_ _˚ᆺ˚_

* * *

 **Thursday, October 16 [PM]**

After about a minute, Mai realized she had absolutely no idea where she was or where she was going in the house. The halls all kind of morphed into one. She slumped her shoulders as she walked, " _Well, you can either go back and potentially face Naru, ooooor just keep walking aimlessly."_ She chose the latter. She kept wandering until she came to a stair case.

"Well. Up I go, I guess," she mumbled to herself. She came to the top and found herself faced with another hallway.

" _Screw it, let's just hide out in a room,"_ she ducked into the first room on the right and closed the door behind her. She felt up the wall until she found the light switch. Once illuminated, she could see it was a bedroom. However, it seemed too clean and pristine to have been used often, so she suspected it be a guest room. A wall of books immediately caught her attention. She went over and scanned their spines.

" _Parapsychology, Discourse on Metaphysics, Mastering Astral Projection, Numerology, Astral Dynamics, Journey of Souls, Dreams and their Meaning, Telekinetic Control…"_ Mai's eyes wandered the rows on rows on rows of books before she picked out one that seemed to call to her, _The Power of Premonitions._ Tossing the jacket she once held in her arms onto a chair, she took a seat on the bed and opened the book. It was covered with notes and highlights. She found herself emerged completely in it after only a few pages. She completely lost her sense of time and place.

Gene had just watched Mai storm past him, in the complete opposite way of the door. He sighed and decided going after her could wait. He had bigger fish to fry.

"If I could mentally strangle you right now, I would," Gene stepped over to his brother and took a seat on the couch next to him. Naru raised a brow to him.

"I know you have no social skills especially when it comes to girls, but I'm sure even you have as much of a brain to realize how rude that was," Gene lectured. Naru sighed and crossed his legs, placing down his book.

"I said nothing rude," he spoke dryly.

"Sometimes it's the things you don't say. Like 'thanks' or 'I forgive you'." Gene stared at Naru who sat silently. He shook his head and muttered under his breath," I really thought you were getting somewhere with the whole jacket thing." After a moment of silence, Gene spoke again, "You are probably one of the smartest people I have ever met, yet the one thing you, the great and mighty Oliver Davis, cannot figure out is a teenage girl."

"Women are the biggest enigma in modern history," Naru deadpanned.

Naru picked up the tea cup and looked into it.

"It's cold now," he complained. Gene rubbled his temples.

"Maybe if you drank it when she first gave it to you, it would have been warm."

"Well if she didn't run off and make a scene, maybe I would have." Gene rolled him eyes dramatically.

"I had something important to tell you too, but now I need to go find our damsel in emotional destress," Gene shot him a dirty look as he stood from the couch.

"No," Naru started, still holding the tea cup, "I know where she is. She's not going anywhere for a while."

"You see her?" Gene sat back down next to his brother, still intrigued by his brother's ever growing abilities.

"Yeah," he nodded and took a sip of the tea, despite it being cold. Gene smirked, " _Peace offering accepted."_

"What is it you had to tell me?" Naru looked at him seemingly emotionless.

"It's about Mai," Gene started, noticing a sudden glint in his brother's eyes at the mention of her name, "I think she contacted me telepathically today during class. But the interesting thing is that I don't think she even realized it."

"Interesting," Naru caught his chin in his hand, enveloping himself in deep thought.

Mai sat with her legs criss-crossed on the bed. She was surprised to find how cushy it was despite it's somber appearance from the black blankets. It was now dark outside, but she didn't seem to notice. The lights above gave Mai enough light to continue reading without a care in the world. Hours seemingly went by and she thought it was slightly strange no one had found her yet. Her new plan was to wait until it was late to sneak around more without a threat of finding either of the twins. She also considered taking the book with her, that is if she didn't finish it right then and there.

Suddenly, the door began to creek open. Mai held her breath, her fingers holding the book tightened subconsciously. She hoped it was a spirit, or at least the kinder of the twins.

" _Damn,"_ Mai was given neither of her wishes. Instead, Naru stood in the frame of the door, an aloof look on his face.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, not moving from his spot in the doorway.

"Hiding from you," she averted her gaze to the window.

"Well, you picked almost the worst spot. This is my room," everything suddenly made sense. The almost all black furniture, the minimal decoration, no pictures of friends or family, the ample number of books. Everything practically screamed Naru. Her whole body stiffed, suddenly becoming incredibly aware she was sitting on his bed. The bed dipped next to her once new weight was added to it.

"How did your quiz go today?" Mai was surprised by his sudden question, which was completely irrelevant to the elephant in the room.

"I think it went alright, but normally went I think that, I fail. So, I don't really know," she let out a nervous laugh.

"What made you choose that book?"

"It just kinda called to me," she looked down and brushed her hand over it.

"You have good taste. It's one of my favorite," Naru glanced over to see what page she was on in the book.

"Really?" he nodded.

"You have a lot of interesting books," Mai confessed, "I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff."

"Do you believe in it?" Mai nodded her head.

"Always have. My friends and I always talk about this kind of stuff and tell each other scary ghost stories, I don't their they're strong believers though."

"It doesn't scare you?" The girl in questioning shook her head.

"Sometimes, it can be unnerving. But for the most part, I think it's fascinating."

"Watch," Naru began to concentrate, narrowing his eyes at the bookshelf. Mai suddenly noticed the air becoming thick, the energy seemed to amply by 20. Mai looked over at Naru, a bit confused and worried. It didn't feel normal. Mai thought for a second that she could see white light emanating from the boy's body next to her. She would have taken a better look if she didn't notice a few books beginning to rattle on the shelf. Before she knew it, they flew out of their spot and began to levitate. Mai sat their speechless. Then as soon as it began, the books dropped to the ground with a thud. Mai moved back a little from him, more confused and shocked than scared. It took a moment for Mai to fully register what just happened. There was a silence in between them, and the air around them began to lighten. Mai glanced over to the door to see Gene standing there, a not so happy look on his face.

"You're not supposed to do that without someone with you, Noll," Mai had never heard Gene use such a serious tone before.

"I know how to control myself," he narrowed his eye's at his twin. The tension in the air that had just dissipated was suddenly back in full force. Mai felt uncomfortable sitting there, like she shouldn't be there.

"Are you afraid?" Gene looked over to Mai with a bit of anxiousness laced into his voice.

"No, no, that was just… I wasn't excepting it," Gene shot a glare to Naru.

"It was really amazing though! I've never seen anything like it," Mai smiled and the tension seemed to vanish instantly.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Mai looked at Naru with hopeful eyes.

"If you have enough brain cells to absorb the information," he smirked. Mai scowled at him and crossed her arms. Gene laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Mai. You should get home before it gets super late," Gene stood just outside the doorway waiting for her. She hoped of the bed and began to make her way over to Gene.

"Take it," Naru held the book out to her. Mai looked down and gladly accepted it with a smile.

"Thanks," she said, walking out of his room. Gene closed the door behind her, leaving Naru in his room alone.

"Out of all the rooms you could have chosen…" Gene started with a grin.

"Shut it," she muttered and pushed into him with her side. They walked down the stairs and back down the hallway, where Gene lead her past the living room. However, the scene wasn't as she had remembered it. The cup and plate still remained, but the tea and muffin were gone. Happiness rose inside of her. She felt like she had just accomplished something big. " _All that fuss for seemingly nothing."_

Soon, they found themselves in the foyer.

"Do you want me to take you home? It's pretty dark outside. I could ask Lin to drive you too, if you would prefer," Gene looked out the glass portion of the door. Mai slipped on her shoes and shook her head.

"Don't worry, I'll be just fine," she looked at him with a reassuring smile before walking out the door.

"Oh, I didn't tell Noll about your parents or family. Thought that would be something you would want to tell yourself," Gene stepped outside on the porch with her.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Mai began to walk down the driveway and onto the sidewalk.

"You're welcome here anytime, Mai!" Gene yelled over to her. She waved back at Gene who still stood on the steps. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw the black clad narcissist gazing out of one of the windows down at her. But by the time she saw it, the light turned out and the whole room went black. Mai made her way home with a steady pace, taking the well-lit route. She arrived home and dropped her bag next to her shoes and took a running jump onto her bed. She immediately rolled herself up in her blanket and began to drift off to sleep just as quickly as she had gotten into the bed.

The door had closed, leaving Naru alone on his bed with his thoughts. He stood up to place the fallen books in their rightful places on the shelves. That's when he noticed his black coat, draped over one of the chair arms. He walked over to it and picked it up gently, giving it a good look. It felt almost warm to the touch, alive with brilliant emotions. The soft scent of strawberries and vanilla filled the air. He held the jacket up to his nose and inhaled slowly as he looked out the window to see the bubbly brunette make her way down the street. He turned around and hit the light switch off before laying in bed. The darkness hid well his pale blush and his small smile. " _Thanks, Mai_ ," he thought to himself.

" _Thanks,"_ she heard Naru's voice in her head just before she fell into dreamland.

" _Great, now I'm hearing his voice,"_ she rolled over to her other side, and then the whole world turned black.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading!_

 _School starts up soon for me so I probably wont be updating daily anymore :(_

 _Sorry this was a shorter chapter, I didn't really know what else to write haha. Ghost /hunting/ begins in the next chapter!_

 _By the way, The Power of Premonitions is actually are real book and is super good if you wanna read a book on that kinda stuff._

 _Please review! Have a great day/night!_


	6. 5 - Fall Leaves

_tick tock, hear that? I'm really late with this chapter_

* * *

 **Saturday** **, October 18**

Mai stood in front of her bathroom mirror brushing her hair and humming. She felt slightly guilty for skipping work today, but she convinced herself she deserved it after the week she had. The plans for the day had yet to be relayed to her, she was told she would receive a call from Yasuhara the morning of, and that was all. Speak of the devil, her phone began to ring.

"Hello?" She spoke in a cheery voice.

" _Hey, Mai! Are you ready for the day?"_ he sounded almost has chipper as Mai.

"You know it! Can you tell me anything about it yet?"

" _No can do. I'll be there in about an hour to pick you up,_ " he had a devious tone to his voice.

"Can you at least tell me what I should wear?" The line was quiet for a second.

" _Something cute, maybe a dress or a skirt_."

"Alright, alright. See you soon!" The call ending with a click. Mai pushed open her closet door and struck a thinking pose. Why did picking out an outfit have to be so difficult? After a while of deliberation, she chose a light beige knit sweater that tucked neatly into her short black and white plaid skirt. She wore a pair of black opaque tights with black thigh high socks over it. A pair of black sneakers with white laces completed her look. She twirled in front of the mirror smiling, satisfied with her look. She wore a bit of makeup, only eyeliner and pink lip gloss. Her mind swirled with ideas of what Yasuhara could have planned for her today.

It didn't take long before Mai heard a car horn outside of her apartment complex. She grabbed her key locked her door, the stuffing it into her thigh high socks. She skipped down the stairs and saw Yasuhara parked out front. She took a seat in the front and smiled at him excitedly.

"Can you tell me where we are going now?" She begged.

"Oh Mai, Mai, Mai. Patience is a virtue," Yasuhara shook his finger before putting his car in gear and leaving in the way of their destination.

"You look so cute!" Yasuhara complimented, her cheeks tinted pink.

"Trying to pick up some dudes or what?" Her face immediately dropped.

"I would so hit you right now if you weren't driving," she grumbled. He just laughed before turning up the radio, which played pop music. They sang and danced in their seats the whole way there, laughing hysterically when the others voice cracked or the came in on a verse too soon. After a couple minutes of driving, the pulled into their destination - a park. Mai was really excited, she loved nature. The fall air brushed calmly against her skin when she emerged from the car.

They walked along the trail for a bit until it opened up into a large field with picnic benches and pavilions. It was sunny without a cloud in the sky, and a calm breeze kept the air chilly.

"Mai! Over here!" She looked around until she saw Keiko and Michiru waving over to her. They sat with Masako, Gene, and Naru. Mai looked up at Yasuhara with a questioning look. They both knew the unspoken question – why is Masako here?

"Look, I needed a seventh person, okay, just go with it," he whispered to her. She walked over to the group, a bit apprehensive of the situation. She hugged Keiko and Michiru once she made her way over. She waved at the rest of them. Naru looked bored out of his mind, Gene wore a smile, and Masako simply glared at her.

" _I wonder what Gene offered Naru to get him to come here, with no book, too."_

"Are you guys ready to find out why exactly I have gathered you here today?" Yasuhara pulled papers out of his back pocket.

"It's a…." he paused for dramatic appeal, "scavenger hunt!" Yasuhara flipped over the papers with a 'tada' to reveal a list.

"That's stupid," Naru spoke unenthusiastically, breaking the moment. Mai shot him a look, "I think it sounds really fun, Yasu." Their hosts glasses glinted in the sun.

"You'll be in pairs of two for this game," Masako's eyes lit up at the news and she looked over at Naru, but her gaze wasn't returned, "However, I've already split you up so no need to worry!" Masako slumped back to her original position.

"You'll be tasked with finding all the items on the list. The team with the most items wins. We will meet back here at 6 when the game ends, which gives you about three hours from now. If you're late, you're disqualified. Everyone understand?" Nods, yeses, and a pair of rolled eyes came from the group in front of him.

"Good, now I'll split you up."

The teams ended up being Keiko and Michiru, Masako and Gene, Mai and Naru. Naru looked extremely uninterested at the game. Mai took a look at their list, figuring she would be the one doing most of the work.

" _Something colorful, a pinecone, something smooth, two kinds of leaves, something fuzzy, a piece of litter? That's kinda gross,"_ She thought to last item on the list was cute though, something you think is a treasure. Yasuhara dismissed the groups and everyone went their own direction, some more reluctant than others.

Naru and Mai walked silently down the path, almost uncomfortably silent. The leaves rustled with each passing breeze.

"Do you really want to do this?" Naru glanced at the list.

"Yeah, but... I guess we could just talk instead if you really aren't interested," Mai shrugged. More silence, " _So much for talking."_ The leaves and twigs snapped beneath their feet at they walked. Suddenly, Mai wished she had read the conversation topics article Keiko sent to her randomly late one night. Mai tried to push the awkward tension aside and breathe in the scent of nature, so calming and serene. " _Two hours and forty minutes left,"_ was all Mai could think.

A bit of time passed before Mai could no longer take the silence.

"The other day when you came into the café, you said your favorite place moved, right?" Mai tried desperately to make conversation. Naru only nodded.

"I guess you like tea a lot then?" another nod. Mai wrung her hands together.

"You left your jacket in my room the other night," Naru kept his eyes on the distant trail ahead.

"I gave it back."

"I gave it to you."

"Nu-uh, you lent it to me until I got a new one. Lending is very different from giving," Naru didn't retort.

" _Checkmate."_

Mai looked up at the branches that stretched over the path and became captivated by a small squirrel.

"Do you like nature?" Mai spoke in a curious tone.

"It's calming I suppose," Naru noted. He looked down to her as the wind blew through her hair. She looked so peaceful. She stumbled over a tree root that protruded from the ground.

"Unless you're with a clutz," he scoffed. Mai bit the inside of her lip to keep from giving him a piece of her mind.

"Do you think plants can see us like we see them?" Mai looked down at the flowers that lined the path. Something hit the side of Mai's head, in particular the side Naru stood on. Mai looked up at him in confusion.

"Did you just… flick me?" she asked perplexed, touching her head near the region of impact.

"Don't ask dumb questions then," he continued walking with a smirk. Her hostile glare was only broken when a scream broke through the trees of the woods.

"Did you hear that?" Mai stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head, "It sounded like a little girl." Her voice quieted as she looked through the trees in the direction the sound had come from.

"Let's keep going. You don't know what it was, it was probably just be children playing. This is a park after all," he started to walk but stopped again when he noticed his partner was not following behind him.

"But what if it wasn't…" she said softly before stepping off into the trail into the gloomy woods in an almost trance like state.

"Mai, stop," Naru warned her. She didn't listen. She kept walking farther and farther. Another scream pierced the silence. Mai could more clearly pinpoint where the scream was coming from. She dashed through the trees shouting, "Hey! Helloooo! Where are you?" There was no response. The sound of the scream rang in her ears as if it were the only thing she could hear. Her mind prepared herself to find the worst.

She dodged swiftly past roots, branches, rocks, and anything else blocking her way, running recklessly without any sense of direction. She stopped abruptly when she spotted the figure of a small girl through the trees.

"Hey," Mai called out softly, hoping to not startle the girl. Her dress was tattered and her hair looked wild.

"Are you alright?" Silence. Mai stepped closer. The girl's back faced her, and her head drooped down.

"Did you get lost?" She reached out her arm and took another step. The girl didn't move.

"Are you hurt?" Mai walked closer gently, and closer, until –

"What the hell are you doing?" something grabbed her wrist. Mai whipped around the see a pair of cold blue eyes staring back at her.

"Naru, look! This girl needs our help! I told you that it wasn't just-" she tried to wiggle out of his unrelenting grasp.

"What are you talking about?" Mai looked at Naru with questioning look before turning her head to where the little girl once was. It was empty, no little girl, no trace of any human or movement. She held her breath and looked all around her. The thought just occurred to her that she just realized she had no idea where she was.

"I swear there was a little girl sitting right there! She had on a while dress and her hair was knotted, it looked like she was lost! I'm not crazy, I-I saw it!" Her eyes were fixed on his.

"I never said you were crazy. I believe you," he said with a small sigh. He rubbed his temples with his free hand.

"Why would you be so stupid as to run into a dark forest? What would have happened if you were alone? It's quite possibly one of the most idiotic things to do," Mai clenched her fist and clamped her mouth.

"Well, sorry for having a heart! That girl was hurt! That girl- "

"That girl is not here!" Naru raised his voice, it startled Mai, but she held her ground. His grip on her wrist got tighter and tighter. They stood like statues in a moment of silence, the only sound was the leaves rustling in the wind.

"You're bleeding."

"What?" Naru twisted her wrist to get a better look at her arm. He pushed up her sleeve and a large scratch bled lightly. Mai looked puzzled.

"But, But I didn't hit it into anything or trip…" the blood beaded at the gash. Naru's eyes studied her injury before looking around at his surroundings.

"We have to get out of here, now," his voice sounded calm yet urgent. He released her arm from his grasp.

"You have your phone, correct?" Naru kept scanning his surroundings. Mai went to reach for her pocket before she realized she didn't have any.

"Uh… No. I didn't have pockets so I left it at home," she let out a tense laugh. The air around her became increasingly cold.

"What kind of idiot leaves their phone at-" Naru was searching through his pockets before he realized he was also missing his.

"What kind of idiot leaves their phone at home," Mai mocked behind his back. The air kept getting colder and colder, but there was no wind. She stepped closer to Naru and rubbed her arms with her hands.

"Let's go," Naru took her wrist again and started walking through the forest with a quick pace.

"You feel it too, right?" She dared not fall behind him now, she wanted out just as much as he did and maybe a bit more.

"Don't be scared. Spirits can fed off of that energy," The hairs on the back of Mai's neck stood up and a chill ran down her spine.

"You're saying what I saw was a – "

"Anything is possible at this time," he kept a stone cold face. Mai could see hints of uncertainty in his eyes though, which most would have missed if not having spent ample amounts of time with him. Mai tried to steady her breathing, she was extremely on edge. Mai tried to keep her eyes ahead, but something to her left caught her attention. She stood dead in her tracks, pulling back Naru who still held a death grip on her wrist. She began to shake slightly.

"Mai, now's not the time to – "He followed her gaze to the little girl dressed in white with unkempt hair. He stepped in between Mai and the girl. She sat facing away from them. The words stuck in Mai throat. She told her legs to run but it felt as if the ground was glue. She felt useless. The little girl was the first to move. She slowly turned around, blood ran from her right eye and dripped onto her white dress. Mai's eyes opened wide, she couldn't avert her gaze. The girl looked up and stared directly passed Naru to Mai. She opened her mouth and let out another blood curdling scream. She began to inch towards the pair, her arm extended. Naru did not flinch and kept his eyes narrowed on the girl. She came closer and closer before –

"Rin, Pyo, Toh, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

The girl stopped her advances and fell to the ground, vanishing upon impact. Mai let out a heavy sigh before dropping to the ground.

"Mai!" She heard Gene yell behind her. Two hands rested on her shoulders. She looked up and saw a pair of blue eyes staring at her again, "Are you alright?" Mai nodded and held her arm. It burned. She heard the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling behind her. Gene and Yasuhara were sprinting towards the two.

"What happened?" Gene squatted down next to Mai looking worried.

"How did you know where we were?" Mai tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Mai thought it would be a brilliant idea to run off into the woods after she heard a scream," Naru glanced over at this brother.

"Someone could have been hurt," she mumbled under her breath.

"It's alright, Mai. It's late, how about we go and get some food?" Yasuhara said with a smile. Food always made people happier. Gene helped her up and looked at her arm, "Oh, my god," he pushed up her sleeve, but Mai grabbed her arm away quickly.

"It's fine, just a scratch! Come on let's go get food!" She said with a smile and walked the way the two had just come from, obviously trying to cover something up. Yasuhara reluctantly led the way. Naru and Mai walked side by side and Gene walked up next to Yasuhara.

"So... what was that exactly?" Her voice was still a bit unsteady.

"A spirit. It's not uncommon for them to reside in forests," Naru replied calmly.

"What happened to her? Is she okay now? Gene didn't hurt her, did he?"

Naru selected his answer carefully, "She's resting now, she's not gone."

"Who would have thought ghosts needed sleep," Mai thought aloud.

"I thought you said you weren't afraid of these kinds of things?" Naru raised a brow to her.

"I meant the stories! I've never experienced anything like that before," she said exasperatedly.

"Well, congratulations. Glad I could be your first," he spoke with a smirk. Mai face went bright pink, "I hope you know that's not what it normally connotes..."

Thankfully, Yasuhara and Gene didn't get lost in the maze of the forest. They emerged in the clearing where they had started from. Masako, Keiko, and Michiru sat at one of the tables. Keiko spotted the missing team walking from the woods, and ran over to them with Michiru and Masako not far behind. Keiko and Michiru blasted Mai with questions, but Masako made her way over to Naru where she tried to drag the story of what happened out of him. Simply put, she did not get the story out of him. Naru was more concerned with talking to Gene about something.

The group of teenagers went to a local restaurant down the street. Gene had stopped at a store to pick up a bandage for Mai's arm. Naru pulled her away from the table discretely to not disturb the others meal. They made their way over to an empty bench outside. He rolled her sleeve up and ran his finger down the cut. She winced, it burned as he touched it.

"It should heal in only a few days. Try to give it some air from time to time as well," he tenderly dressed her wound. It gave Mai the impression he had done it before.

"Also, if you soak your sweater in vinegar the blood will come out," Mai mentally took notes on what he said. The leaves of the trees that lined the streets shook in the breeze and filled the moment of silence between the two.

"You don't think the little girl did this… right?" That question had been tearing Mai up inside. Naru nodded, confirming her least wanted answer.

"It's a possibility, not all spirits are kind. Thankfully, you weren't alone," he said while finishing the banding on her arm.

"Thanks," she twisted her arm and looked at the white bandage that already had a bit of red seeping through. Naru nodded and stood up.

"Not just for this... but for going after me. I don't know what I would have done if I were alone," her cheeks blushed a light pink and she stared down at her shoes.

"You'll find a way to pay me back," he turned and walked back into the restaurant. She sat there and looked as the door gently came to a close. She rolled her eyes and sighed, a smile graced her lips as she watched the cars drive past for a second more.

She returned to the table not long after Naru and ate dinner. Everyone sat there happily, some just showed it more than others. They joked around and told stories about everything and anything. Mai was thankful for having such adoring friends who she called family.

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!_

 _I am honestly extremely sorry for how long this chapter has taken, school has me so so busy this year. However, in a month or two I will be updating hopefully weekly!_

 _Thank you so so so much for all your kind reviews, I can't tell you how much each one makes my heart smile._

 _Happy fall/Mabon for all those reading today! :)_

 _Have a lovely day/night!_


	7. 6 - Petrichor and Lavender

_pow pow its the pain train_ ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

* * *

 **Monday, October 20**

Mai held her breath and closed her eyes. On her desk before her lay her quiz from the previous week. She slowly opened one eye and peaked at the paper. She gasped.

"Naru! Look, look! I passed!" Mai held the paper up to his face with an unprecedented amount of joy. His eyes scrutinized the paper. A red 92 in a circle was written in the corner of her paper.

"If you didn't pass after my help, you truly would be hopeless," he continued on reading in his book. She let her arm drop directly down. She blankly started at him.

"Good job, Mai!" Gene gave her a reassuring smile. Naru scoffed next to them.

"Definitely fridge material," he deadpanned.

"I'm just thinking I should just ignore him at this point," Mai rested her chin in her hands and looked at Gene who agreed with a nod.

"You two are childish," he turned the page in his book.

"Did you just hear a buzz, Gene? Is there a fly?" Mai looked around as if she were looking for the imaginary bug.

"Yeah, heard that too! For sure a fly," Gene said in a serious tone and scanned around the room too. Naru rolled his eyes and continued on in his book.

The teacher entered and cleared their throat to call attention back to the authority.

"Today, I am assigning you all a project that will be worth 40% of your final grade," Mai's head dropped. The teacher continued, "It will be due by the end of the week, so I do not advise waiting too long to begin it. You'll be tasked with choosing an intricate piece of Japanese culture, explaining the context in which it is used in now and also how it was used throughout Japanese history. Then, you will relate whatever you chose to the rest of the world and compare and contrast how they are viewed and used. You'll be required to write the last paper completely in English. You may only use primary sources as well," at this point, Mai was tempted to run and jump out of the window.

"However, I will allow you to work in groups on this project," Gene spun around and his chair and gave Mai a wink. He claimed her as his partner. She felt relieved, she knew Gene was better than her at English but-

"Groups of three, that is," The pair slowly turned their heads over to the other identical twin. He did not reciprocate their looks. A collective sigh passed between the two. The fun police had arrived.

The trio walked down the sidewalk after school, trying to come up with a time and place they could meet to do their project.

"Well, uh, I have work every day this week so…" Mai fidgeted with her fingers.

"Until what time?" Gene had an inkling it was going to be difficult to find time.

"Not until late," she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.

"Guess we will have to work in the café then," Gene shrugged.

Mai pulled her hair back into a ponytail and got right to work in the café. Gene and Naru sat at the counter, their books for the project sprawled across it. They talked amongst themselves while Mai served the customers. Truthfully, she wasn't going to be much help seeing how busy it was today. When she had a free moment though, she would join them at the counter and discuss what they were doing and about the information they had collected. It didn't last long though, as each time Mai was whisked away by a customer after a minute or two.

"She looks cute in a ponytail, don't you think?" Gene smiled as she walked away to help a customer. Naru rolled his eyes, took a sip of his tea, and continued writing down notes on his paper, "Hadn't even noticed," he spoke dryly.

"Suurreee you didn't," Gene stretched in his seat.

"I like the color of the hair tie too, I think it suits her well."

Without looking up from his notes, Naru replied, "Pink has never been a likable color."

"How'd you know it was pink? Thought you said you didn't notice," Gene smirked widely. The other twin ignored his brothers comment and continued working diligently.

" _Someone just got buuuuusted."_

" _You're forgetting my abilities_ _."_

" _Or maybe you're forgetting about your human emotions."_

The door opened with a chime and Mai greeted the returning customer.

"John! How have you been? The regular?" the sound of Mai's cheerful voice perked the two boy's ears at the counter. She made her way behind the counter and stood in front of his normal seat and smiled as the blonde foreigner took a seat. Mai listened closely as John talked about his day and poured him a hot cup of coffee that had been freshly made. She giggled as he told her about the children at a church he had just gone to visit, and how they had made him play hide and seek with them.

A throat was cleared by someone also sitting at the counter.

"For a three-person project, it only feels as though only two people are doing anything," Naru shot her a look. Gene elbowed him in the side.

John scratched the back on his neck awkwardly, "Sorry, Mai. I didn't know you were working on something already."

"No, no, no! It's fine! Naru is just being a jerk," She shot him a venomous glance. The air became chilled and almost thick with tension.

"Do you all go to school together?" John made a guess based on the uniforms. Mai nodded and broke her stare off with Naru.

"John, this is Gene and Naru. Gene and Naru, John," Mai introduced the parties to each other. They greeted each other.

"John's here from Australia, he's a priest actually," Mai explained. Naru perked up a little. Gene looked slightly shocked, "A priest? You look too young to be!"

John smiled at him, "I'm actually 19. People have told me I look young for my age."

"You sure do!" Gene looked at him as if he didn't believe his age.

"A priest…" Naru mumbled under his breath.

After a while, John left for home. The café was closing soon and most patrons had departed out through the doors.

"Sorry I wasn't much help today," Mai placed newly cleaned tea cups under the counter.

"Don't worry about it, Mai. We understand. It can't be easy living by yourself, anyways," Gene gave her a wide grin and stood up from his stool.

"Living by yourself?" Naru echoed lightly, glancing inquisitively at his other half. Gene realized his mistake and quickly changed the subject to avoid further questioning.

"It's dark out now, do you want me to walk you home?" He leaned against the counter.

" _Don't ignore me, Gene."_

"Oh, no, it's fine! I normally walk home at this time so I'll be fine," she picked up her bag from the ground and pulled out her small ponytail, "I'll try to be more of a help next time! I'm going to go say bye to Ayako and Bou-san, I'll be right back," she scurried over to the kitchen.

"It's not a wise choice to keep secrets, you know," Naru placed his books into his bag. Gene scoffed, "Okay, Dr. Oliver Davis. Save your lectures for Edinburgh."

 **Thursday, October 23**

"In regard to your project due tomorrow: It should be relatively finished by now, and tonight should be used to put on the finishing details," Mai sighed and slumped in her seat. They still had a lot of work to be done, and time was running out quickly.

The bell rang and the school day was now over. All the students quickly packed their books up and made their way out of the school. Mai, however, took her time. She gazed out the windows of the class, watching all of the teenagers make their way off school yards and home. Home to a family. She tapped her pencil on her desk while watching Yasuhara and his friends laugh and carry on as they walked.

Thankfully, Mai convinced Ayako to let her have off today so she could work on the project. Gene decided to have her come over to their house where they could all work in the study together. Mai was to come a little later so that she could visit her parents in peace. Naru was told she had to pick up something from her house.

She stood up from her desk and slipped on her jacket. Deciding she wasn't ready to leave just yet, she placed her book bag and phone on the top of her desk and walked out of the room. She made her way over to the door leading to the roof.

The brunette pulled open the door and felt a calming sense of serenity as the fresh air reached her. She walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down once again.

" _What a wonderful view of the city…"_ The trees still adorned a few orange and red leaves, lights from shops and cars illuminated the streets. The sun hung partially hidden by the white clouds in the sky. The sound of people laughing and the wind filled her ears like a soft melody.

"What are you doing here?" Startled by the voice, Mai swung around to see a certain boy sitting against the wall.

"Oh, Naru. I didn't see you there," she took one last look at the view before walking over to the door where he sat.

"What are you still doing here?" she questioned.

"I asked you the same thing," his eyes looked up at the sky.

"I thought you had left with Gene," she leaned her back against the wall.

"Just because we may look alike doesn't mean we do everything together," his voice seemed to carry a bit of frustration.

"I didn't mean it like that," she sighed. After a moment of silence, Mai decided that was her cue to leave. Naru took his eyes off the sky and watched her walk over to the door, which she tried to open with all her might.

" _Oh man, don't tell me it's locked!,"_ she pulled on it harder. Naru shook his head and stood up. He walked over behind her and reached over her to push open the door.

"When a door doesn't open one way, most people with a brain try to open it the other," he glanced down at the girl who stood closely in front of him. Her faced turned bright red.

"You don't have to be a jerk about it," she shot him a look and walked quickly through the door he was still pushing open. It closed with a thud behind her. Her once clench fist relaxed, and she smiled as she walked to grab her things and go visit her parents.

He took his hand off the door as the spunky girl made her way through it. He stood there for a moment more, a small smile played on his lips, "Idiot." He shook his head and walked over to the edge where he saw the girl bounce down the street off to where he thought was home.

Later in the day, Mai had finished all she needed to and began to make her way to the twin's home. Along with her books, she brought some tea to make once she was there. It would be rude not to bring anything afterall. The clouds from earlier had now turned grey, a storm was approaching rapidly. She quickened her pace and hoped she could make it to her destination before the storm.

Thankfully, luck was on her side today. Just as she reached the driveway, raindrops fell from the sky onto the ground around her. She rang the doorbell which was promptly answered by Gene who warmly welcomed her inside and took her tea offering into the kitchen. After taking off her shoes, Mai followed Gene who took her to the study where they would be working for the night.

The room was large and completely lined with books expect for the large windows which brought in minimal light due to the storm. An elegant rug clothed the floor and a beautiful crystal chandelier with lights hung in the center of the room. It was immaculately clean, obviously one of the most cared about rooms of the house. Naru sat at the large table situated under the chandelier. He looked up at the girl unenthusiastically, "You're late."

"Sorry, I stopped at the café to get some tea. I can take it back though if you want," she placed her hands on her hips.

"Do as you please," he went back to reading the book in front of him. She clenched her fists and made her way over to the table and pulled out a chair across from the kinder twin. The two, well mainly Gene, brought her up to speed on where they were on the project, then they all went to work on their own respective sections.

Sometime past before Mai dropped her head onto her book, "Why does this have to be so difficult? I miss the times when coloring was homework."

"Don't worry, Mai. Half the battle is just understanding the words in these books," Gene gave her a reassuring smile and stood to take another book off the wall. Mai stretched her back over the chair in an attempt to crack it. She decided she needed a break.

"I'm going to go made some tea, anyone want anything?"

"Earl grey," Mai nodded.

"Gene, you need anything?"

"No thanks," He found the book he was looking for on the shelf and made his way back to the table. She turned and walked out the door, trying to remember where the kitchen was again. The house seemed like a maze to her.

After a bit of wondering, she eventually found her way. She searched through the cabinets until she found a tea pot. Turning around, she stopped in her tracks. An unfamiliar tall figure stood in the frame of the doorway, black hair covering part of his face. He stood dead still in the dimly-lit frame.

"Uh… hi?" Mai clutched the teapot she held. The figure still didn't move.

" _Is that... a ghost?"_ A chill ran down her spine. He made a quick turn of the head and looked directly at her. At the same time, a crack of lighting flashed through the windows and a clap of thunder rumbled the house. Mai shrieked.

In a second, the lights flicked on and the once ominous figure turned out to be just a man.

' _Phew, not a ghost,"_ she placed a hand over her thumping heart.

"Mai!" Naru came running into the room with Gene not too far behind. He looked at the man, and then to Mai, assessing the situation.

"Lin, what happened?" Naru asked him.

"Lin?" Mai echoed curiously.

"Oh, I guess I should have told you about Lin," Gene rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm their guardian," Lin finally spoke. Mai laughed awkwardly.

"I thought you were a ghost!" Naru scoffed and walked out of the room. Mai went back to making her tea.

"What brings you here, Lin?" Gene leaned against the door frame.

"I have a message from your parents for Noll. He's been ignoring their messages, supposedly," Lin held a similar dead expression as Naru.

" _Noll?"_ Mai looked down at the stove with furrowed brows.

"Let's talk about this in the study," Gene motioned down the hallway. Lin nodded and walked in the direction. Mai brushed off the foreign name and searched for a tray to carry the tea. She made four cups, one for everyone just in case they wanted it. She made her way carefully back to the study. She pushed open the door and found the three sitting at the table, the air was noticeably cooler than the rest of the house. Their conversation stopped as soon as she entered.

"Oh…sorry, am I interrupting something? I can wait in the hall- "

"No. Lin was just leaving," Naru looked highly displeased. Lin stood up and walked out the door behind Mai. The air became to warm around her. She placed the tray on the chair and each twin took a cup.

" _Thank goodness I made extra."_

The rain pounded on the windows, lighting occasionally flashed and filled the room with more light. Time seemed to move quickly and slowly all at the same time. Mai felt like she was getting nowhere no matter how hard she tried. Her eyelidss felt heavy and she could no longer suppress her yawns.

"If you're really that tired, it's okay to go home, Mai," Gene spoke sympathetically. She shook her head in determination.

"I can't let you two do this all by yourselves, it isn't fair," she rubbed her eyes and took a sip of her now cold tea.

" _You know she's going to be out cold in 5 minutes."_

" _Way to give her the benefit of the doubt, Noll."_

After approximately seven minutes, Mai was face down on her book, drifting off into her world of dreams. Her breathing was soft and her hair partially covered her face.

"Two minutes off," Naru closed his book and placed it back in its rightful place.

"Oh, leave her be, she probably had a rough week and needs the sleep," Gene rested his head in his hand.

"What are we supposed to do with her now?" Naru walked over to her side and bent over to look at her face. Gene shrugged.

"Let's just have Lin drive her home," He stood up straight and pushed his fingers through his hair.

"Don't wake her up," Gene gave him a 'don't you dare' look.

"We are just supposed to let her sleep here until morning?" He raised a brow to his brother. Mai moved in her sleep a bit, slightly startling the two boys.

"Yes," Gene quietly replied and closed his book.

"I still don't understand why you invited her here despite having been practically done the project since the second day," Naru finished off the second cup of tea he had and grimaced slightly at its coldness.

"She seemed to feel bad about not having contributed much," Gene shrugged and made his way over to his brother, "and she seemed a bit lonely."

"That's not of our concern," Naru crossed his arms.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Deep down, it is one of your concerns. You might be able to physically hide your emotions but you seem to forget your thoughts are too hard to read," Gene looked as if he had leverage over his counterpart.

"My thoughts don't contain anything that my emotions don't," he turned around and made his way for the door.

"You should really call Mom back Noll, they're worried about you," Gene rolled his eyes at his brother's ignorance and followed him out of the room, whispering good night to Mai before flicking off the lights, leaving the girl in the darkness with the occasional burst of light from the passing storm.

Mai was ripped from her dreams by the feeling of movement. The faint smell of lavender filled her nose. In front of her was pure black, but a soft, warm feeling let her know everything was alright. Someone held her and moved quietly along the floor. She stirred a bit in her sleep but was restricted by the arms that held her.

" _What a strange dream, this feels so real."_

"Go back to sleep," a voice spoke faintly above her. Still in her drowsy state, she nodded her head and closed her eyes. A door creaked open and she was placed gently onto a comfortable bed seconds later. A blanket was drawn over her and she snuggled into her new place of rest, much more comfortable then a table and book as a pillow.

"Good night, Mai," the voice whispered.

" _Geez... that sounds like Naru. Great now I'm dreaming about him."_

She peaked open her eyes to see a figure adorned in complete black walk out of the door and close it softly.

" _Other people get to dream about cool things, why do I get stuck with this,"_ she thought to herself before rolling over and falling back to sleep.

 **Friday, October 24**

Mai awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside of her window.

" _That's strange. They've never done that before,"_ she sat up and stretched her back before opening her eyes. She stopped in the middle of her stretch and realized this was not her bedroom. She suddenly couldn't remember falling asleep last night, or going home.

" _There's no way I could have been kidnapped… right?"_

She carefully made her way through the dimly lit room over to the door and pulled it open slowly to peak out into the hallway. Everything clicked as she saw the family portrait on the wall, she was still at the twin's house.

" _Wait… how did I end up here? I fell asleep in the study…"_

Memories of her 'dream' flooded back into her mind.

" _My eyes must have tricked me, it was probably Gene. It was too dark to see much, anyways. There's no way Naru would do that unless he was possessed. Or maybe I was sleep walking! I did that a lot as a kid, I think."_

She crept outside of her room and snuck down the hall to the steps. She made her way into the living room where she found Naru sitting with a book.

"Oh, you're already awake," she said still rubbing her eyes.

"Mostly intellectuals rise before the sun, but I guess there must be a few outliers in every set of data," he turned the page in his book.

"Wait, what?" She was too tired to understand his undercut.

"There's a clean uniform on the table for you. We leave in 30 minutes. If you're not ready, we will leave without you."

"How kind… Wait, how did you get this?" she held the uniform up at eye level.

"Lin took it from your house," Naru replied cooly. Her face turned a light pink.

"You mean some strange man rummaged through my home to find my uniform? H-How did he even get it? I never gave you a key! This is an invasion of priva- "

"I'm sure he did not get a kick at whatever else he may have found. You should be thankful you got clean clothes at all. Moreover, you should be thankful you were not forced out of this house last night and have been forced to walk half asleep through the rain home," he crossed his arms. Memories of her previous 'dream' trickled back into her memory, causing her face to turn a deeper shade of pink. She grabbed her uniform off the table and made her way back upstairs. She bumped into Gene on her way.

"Oh, hey Mai. How'd you sleep?" he questioned with a yawn.

"Good! You guys have really comfortable beds," she said with a laugh.

"Beds? You fell asleep in the study, though," he furrowed his brows at her.

"Oh, I, uh, mean the book! You know, sarcasm! Haha!" she laughed awkwardly.

 _"So, Gene didn't take me to the bed… that means… no way. I must have sleep walked."_

"Oh, yeah, duh. If you need anything, I'll be downstairs," he shook his head and moved groggily to the steps.

After changing into her uniform and prepping for the day, Mai and the twins walked together to school. Mai and Gene filled the time with meaningless conversation, which Naru participated in every once and a while.

Handing in the project felt like the weight of the world lifted off Mai's shoulders. She was lucky to have been working with two of the smartest boys in her class, even more, two of the smartest people in their school. She promised them she would do something to make of for her lack of work on the project. While Gene asked for nothing, Naru didn't hesitate in his request for tea.

"You're going to turn into a tea leaf if you drink that stuff so often," Mai teased.

"You must have eaten a lot of stupid in your life then," Naru didn't miss a beat in his response. Gene laughed at the two's interaction.

" _I know teasing is a way some guys like to show their affection, but if you do it all the time she might get the idea you genuinely have distaste for her."_

" _Who says I don't?"_

" _You really are an idiot scientist."_

" _Thanks, Gene."_

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Please review :)_

 _I have two more chapters done and written so I'll have them up soon. Some ghost hunting is coming up in those so I hope you're excited!_

 _I can't thank you enough for all the positive comments and support you guys say!_

 _Have a wonderful day/night!_


	8. 7 - Ice Cream for Dinner

_chirp chirp thats the birds telling me i forgot to post this last week oops. sorry!_

* * *

 **Monday, October 27**

"A man is staying in a hotel for the week during a business trip. On his way to his room, he notices a closed door with no number on it. When he asks about it, he is told that no one is allowed in that room. Curiously, he stops to peer in the keyhole on the next night, and sees a normal hotel room, with a very pale woman lying on the bed. He goes on his way. But the next night, he's just too curious and looks through the keyhole again: this time, all he can see is red. Just red. He goes to ask the woman at the front desk about the room again, and she finally tells him the truth: a woman was murdered in that room years ago. An albino woman, with white skin… and red eyes," Mai tried to use her scariest voice to try and get a reaction out of the two in front of her. Keiko, Michiru, and Mai were telling ghost stories in the AV room as they did every other Monday. Both Keiko and Michiru's had been turned off since they told their spooky story. The room was pitch black except for the flashlight Mai held under her face to get a dramatic effect. Keiko and Michiru clutched onto one another.

"The man went back to look through the keyhole once more. This time, he saw a normal hotel room, but no person inside. At night, he was awakened by a loud noise. He opened his eyes, and all he could see was red. Just red. The maid came in the man's room the next morning to clean and all over the bed was – "

The once dark room was illuminated unexpectedly by the flick of a switch.

"Covered in blood but there was no body," the person in the doorway finished the story. Keiko and Michiru shrieked and held each other tight from the sudden turn of events. Mai turned around to the door and saw the black clad narcissist standing in the doorway. She sighed in relief.

"Why do you have to take the best part of the story! It's not fair," Mai complained to him and crossed her arms.

"Pick a less predictable story next time then," He smirked, knowing he was going to get a reaction from the girl.

"Oh, Kazuya!" Keiko perked up after realizing the identity of the perpetrator. The two girls popped out of their seats and made their way over to him, looking up at him with dreamy eyes. Mai sighed and shook her head.

"What brings you here?" Michiru asked sweetly.

"Are you looking to join our club?" Keiko seemed hopeful.

"This is a club? There doesn't seem to be enough members here to be considered one."

"Ah, we are more of an underground club! The school would never approve of it anyways," Keiko let out a small giggle.

"Maybe I'll join you next time," he smiled superficially to the girls in front of him.

"Is there something you actually need?" Mai stood from her seat and turned to face the group with arms crossed. She was definitely not thrilled like Keiko and Michiru were.

"Actually, yes. I need to talk with you," He still had a smug look on his face.

"Great. Let's get this over with," She huffed and walked over past him and out into the hallway.

The two walked down the empty hallway, orange sunlight seeped in through the open windows. Mai walked a few steps behind Naru, who strode with his hands in his pockets.

"Your friend, Brown-san," Naru stopped in his path and turned around, "I need his contact information." Mai looked at him suspiciously.

"John's? What do you need to talk to him about?" She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure out his motive.

"If you do not wish to give it to me, I will find it else where," he turned around to continue walking down the hall. Mai would have normally let it go, but something inside her told her that she should be curious about this.

"You won't find his number in a phone book!" Mai spat out quickly in hopes of gaining his attention again. He paused in his tracks.

"Since he just moved recently, it's not in any of the records. And I'll tell Ayako and Bou-san not to tell you, so you won't be able to ask them," Mai stood with a smirk, thinking she had him cornered. He turned around and looked at her. He sighed lightly in defeat.

"I need an exorcist."

"An exorcist? Is your house haunted or something?" Mai tilted her head and took a step towards him. He turned to look out the window.

"The girl we saw in the forest has been bothering Gene," his gaze was far off, "he wants investigate it."

"Investigate? What are you guys, ghost hunters or something?" Mai laughed at the idea, but Naru looked at her with a smirk. Mai's laughing stopped.

"Yes. We are a team ghost hunters from Shibuya Psychic Research, and we are in need of an exorcist," Mai stared at him a bit confused. He was so full of secrets.

"I want to help," she seemed genuine.

"Unless you are an exorcist, no," he turned back to the window.

"I'll tell you John's number if you let me!"

"I gave you my answer."

"Oh please, Naru! It's been bothering me, too! I keep seeing her face in my dreams, and it won't go away!"

"I said no."

"I'll just stand in the back and won't be a bother, I swear!" Mai walked right next to him and clasped her hands in a pleading gesture. He rubbed his temples and shook his head. An intense moment of silence passed between the two.

"If you get hurt again this time, we are not liable," her eyes lit up.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Mai sprung up and down on the pads of her feet and grabbed the fabric of his sleeve, pulling it with every bounce. Then she stopped.

"Wait, when is this happening anyways?"

"Friday."

"Oh, that's Halloween," she looked out the window at the setting sun.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, no! Just going for that extra spook factor or what?"

"There's nothing frightful about Halloween, it was only created to reduce mischievous activities in small towns," he blandly.

"You sure know how to take the magic out of things, don't you," she huffed and leaned on the window frame.

"Well, I need to get going for work. Thanks again!" She waved as she hurried pased him down the hall to collect her things.

He watched her make her way down the hall, turn the corner, and go out of view. He sighed and turned from the window but then stopped upon realizing that she hadn't told him the contact information of the exorcist.

She bounced down the sidewalk to the café. She was excited to help the little girl she felt so inexplicably drawn to. She wondered about what she was doing now, if she was in pain, why she couldn't move on, how long she had been there. Questions plagued her mind so much so that she almost walked right past her place of employment. The building was two stories, but the top was rented separately from the café. An escalator led up to the second floor. Mai never actually knew the business up there, but she was familiar with one of the employees, Takiyota. He came by the cafe after most of his shifts, but lately he hadn't been around as much.

"Yo, Mai," Takiyota smiled to her as he descended from the escalator.

"Taki! Long time no see," she walked over to the end of the escalator to greet him, "Are you stopping in today?"

"For a little, of course," he patted the top of her head.

"Why haven't you been around as much?" Mai rocked back and forth on her feet as she stood next to him.

"Ah, our company is closing. A shame, really. They've let everyone work from home for the past few days now. I just had to come back to grab some of my things," he motioned to the box he had been holding in his hands. Mai made an "o" shape with her mouth.

"Mai." Mai whipped around to see who called her.

"Oh, Naru," Mai stepped to the side as he made his way over.

"That's Naru?" Taki whispered to her with a small grin. She elbowed him in the side.

"Naru, this is my friend Takiyota. He's a regular here since he works upstairs. Well, did work upstairs. Taki, this is Kazuya," a sad smile graced her face.

"Did?" Naru questioned and looked up at the second floor.

"Yeah, my company is closing this week," Takiyota bowed slightly, "It's nice to meet you." Naru returned the gesture.

"Is it a large office?" Naru asked, gazing at the building with a hint of something hidden in his eyes.

" _Well that's a strange question,"_ Mai narrowed her eyes are the boy, trying to figure out if he had an ulterior motive or if he just really enjoyed the amount of floor space in offices. Taken slightly off guard by his strange question, Takiyota answered, "Uh, decent size. We had about ten people working there from day to day. It has a nice grand room that the previous clients used for interviews, but we converted it into a desk area," he seemed to be reminiscing on his times working in the office. Naru stood gazing up, seemingly analyzing something.

"I'll meet you inside Mai. You too, Kazuya, if you stop in," Takiyota made is way inside the café, the bell rang as he opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" Mai inquired.

"In all your infinite wisdom, you didn't give me Brown-san's contact information," Naru took his eyes off the building and moved them to the girl, crossing his arms. Mai let out a strained laugh.

"Ah, well... about that," Naru's face did not look amused.

"It's quite funny actually, you might actually crack a smile at this one," still not amused.

"Well, you see, I actually don't have it," Naru rolled his eyes.

"But! He should be coming tonight so I'll get it then, promise!" Mai held out her pinky finger in hopes her promise would be matched.

"I will wait here and get it for myself," he turned around and walked through the doors of the café. Mai stood there still, pinky extended but a bitter look on her face.

"Maybe once he will trust me, just once!" she mumbled to herself and pushed open the door. Takiyota sat in his normal spot, a table for two by the window. Naru also sat in his usual seat, a stool at the counter, fourth from the left. Mai tied her apron, pushed her hair back, and went on her way to serve and chat with the customers. She was in the middle of making Takiyota's black coffee and Naru's earl grey tea when the door chimed open.

"Welcome!" Mai called from behind the counter, "Oh, John!" Mai smiled widely upon seeing him.

"Hi, Mai. Oh, Kazuya, nice to see you again," John sat a stool away from Naru. Mai placed down Naru's tea and went over to give Takiyota his cup.

"Brown-san," Naru began. Mai tired her best to eavesdrop on the conversation, but was whisked away by an ordering customer.

By the time the man was done deliberating his order, Naru was finished with his conversation with John and continued reading his book. She noticed his cup was empty, so she went to make another.

"What cha reading?" Mai lend her elbows on the counter in front of the high schooler.

"It's too advance for you to comprehend," a small smirk graced his lips. Mai bit her tongue and decided that work was probably not the most appropriate place to begin an argument.

The kettle screamed and Mai turned to pour John and Naru a fresh cup of tea. She placed the cups in front of the two, but only one thanked her.

"With all of the cups I have served you, not for one have you thanked me," she placed her hands on her hips.

"Why would I thank you for something I could do myself?" he looked at her with a straight face.

"Well, if you can do it, why don't you then?" She motioned to the equipment behind her.

"Because I'm not being paid to do so," Mai's frustration mounted, but was thankfully calmed down once John started telling her about his day in the church.

About 30 minutes before her shift ended, she found herself sitting and chatting with Takiyota. Most of the customers had left, so she had time to kill before someone needed her.

"Will you still come here sometimes even though you don't work upstairs anymore?" Mai's eyes looked concerned.

"As often as I can, promise," he stuck out his pinky, making Mai giggle a bit.

" _I never noticed before, but he's actually kinda cute.."_ Mai thought to herself. She accepted his pinky and the promise was made.

"If you break it, I get to chop off your pinky!" Mai reminded him with a smile.

"I don't think you should be so happy about that," he spoke in a laugh.

"You know… Mai," Takiyota started, looking down at his fidgeting fingers.

"What's up, Taki?"

"Well… I was thinking, out of all the time's I've been here, you've always been the one serving me," he took a moment to take a breath, "so maybe, one day," he looked up into her eyes, "would you like to go to dinner with m-"

"Mai, tea!" Naru barked out his order.

"Yeah, yeah. Hold that thought, Taki," she said with a smile before making her way behind the counter to make the narcissist his cup.

"Your cup is still half full!" she brought the cup to his face.

"It's cold," he complained.

"Then drink it quicker next time," she shook her head at his wastefulness.

"Spoiled brat," she mumbled under her breath as she set the water to boil.

"What was that?" He spoke and took his eyes off his book.

"Oh, nothing. Just saying what a beautiful human being you are," she turned around to face him with the most obvious superficial smile.

"Hm, you don't have bad taste," he smirked. She clenched her fists.

" _And to think, I almost forgot how narcissistic you were."_

"How could you ever manage to forget," he deadpanned and went back to reading his book. Mai looked at him confused for a second.

" _I said that out loud?"_ she furrowed her brows, and assumed she had. She shrugged it off and returned to Taki and took the seat across from him.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" she looked at him with a grin.

"Oh, uh, just that… you guys should serve dinner! Yeah, serve dinner. Since so many people are here late, might bring in some more money."

"Dinner, huh?" Mai held her chin in a pondering position.

"I better get going, it's getting late," Takiyota smiled with a hint of sadness and grabbed his things. Mai walked him to the door and gave him a small hug before he left. She watched him walk down the sidewalk and out of sight before returning to behind the counter to clean up and take her apron off. Her shift was over.

"Are you hungry?" Mai turned around, not suspecting a sudden question.

"What?" Naru ran his finger around the ring of the cup.

"I asked if you were hungry," Mai touched her stomach.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. I haven't eaten since earlier so…"

"Let's go get something then," he stood up and slipped on his jacket then grabbed his bag. Mai folded her apron neatly and placed it under the counter for whoever would need it next. She grabbed her things then walked out the door with Naru. The air was crisp and the street lights and car headlights illuminated the pathway ahead of them. They began to walk in the direction of Mai's apartment.

"What do you want?"

"Hmmmmm," Mai pondered deeply for a moment, "ice cream!" she declared with a smile.

"You do realize it is 15°C right now, correct?" she nodded her head.

"Maybe you are dumber then you look," he smirked. She jabbed him lightly in the side.

"Well, we are in the same class, so what does that say about you, huh?"

"You got placed in it because no other class wanted you," she huffed and crossed her arms.

"There's this cute ice cream stand near my apartment that sells taiyaki! I've been wanting to try, too," she looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"I never said we couldn't go."

Mai led the way for a couple of minutes until they rounded the corner that the ice cream stand sat on.

Mai ordered a matcha taiyaki from the cute old man who was running the stand. She went to pull out her wallet but noticed Naru was already handing money across the counter.

"What are you doing?" She questioned him.

"This is for the tea and muffin you brought when I was sick," he replied nonchalantly.

"Oh… thanks," taken back a bit, she smiled gratefully at him. He nodded, and the man handed her the fish shaped ice cream. She took a bite and was pleased greatly by the taste.

"You're not getting anything?" she spoke with her mouth stuffed with ice cream.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he watched the cars go by on the street. With each passing car, the headlights illuminated the side of his face. She gulped down the lump of matcha ice cream in her mouth.

"You should have said you didn't want ice cream! We could have gotten something else."

"I never said I was planning on getting anything."

"Oh." A moment of silence passed between the two while Mai munched on her taiyaki.

"You said your home was near," Naru surveyed his surroundings. She nodded.

"It's at the end of the block," Mai pointed towards a block of apartment buildings. Naru began to walk in the direction.

"Where are you going?" Mai followed a step behind him.

"Isn't it obvious? Your home," he walked nonchalantly.

"You don't have to do that," she ran to catch up with him and shook her hands in front of her.

"The cold reduces decision making, chances are you would get lost." She shot him a menacing glare, but he didn't seem to care.

They walked up to the gates of the apartment complex.

"Thanks for walking me. It's always kinda unsettling walking in the dark alone, no matter how many car lights are around," she looked down at her feet and smiled.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" he looked down at her inquisitively.

"I wouldn't say afraid, but I think everyone has a small fear of the dark," she shrugged, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," she began to walk away and waved to the boy behind her. He nodded, "Good night." After she climbed up the stairs, she looked out and saw him walking down the street, hands in pockets, towards home.

"Good night," she whispered to herself with a smile as she watched him walk out of vision.

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!_

 _The reviews recently have been so so so sweet, they make my heart melt! Thank you so much to everyone reviewing!_

 _I've been really busy lately, and all my notes for upcoming chapters got deleted ;_; so future chapters might be coming out a bit slow for the next month and I'm extremely sorry about that. To make up for that, I will try my absolute hardest to get the next chapter (which I have written already) up by the end of next week!_

 _Please review and let me know if you have any ideas of what you would like to see in future chapters!_

 _Have a lovely night/day!_


	9. 8 - Halloween Fright

_boooooOOoOOOo it's almost Samhain_ ＾▽＾

* * *

 **Friday, October 31**  


"You're late."

Mai stood panting in front of the set of identical boys.

"I'm sorry," she managed to breathe out, "alarm didn't go off." Naru crossed his arms in front of him. Gene patted her back and maneuvered her over to the bench to sit and steady herself. Lin hopped out of the car they had been standing next to.

"Oh, hi, Lin," she greeted in a polite tone. Lin nodded in response.

 **"** Hara-san and Brown-san will be here shortly," Naru picked up a book from the bench and began to skim through it. Mai huffed, finding it unfair she was called out for being late while there were others even later than she.

"Wait… Masako's coming?"

"Well, she is a pretty well acclaimed medium in our field," Gene rubbed the back of his neck. Mai tilted her head to the side and looked at him confused.

"Medium?"

"For your sake, in simplest terms a medium is someone who can communicate with spirits," Naru wrote something in his book, then closed it with a snap.

"Thanks so much for dumbing it down," she grumbled and crossed her arms with a huff.

"You're welcome," he checked his watch, crossed his arms, and looked out to the road.

"I can't believe you convinced Naru to let you come," Gene whispered to her.

"Me neither, it's all kind of a blur now," she shrugged.

Soon after, Masako made her way over to the group and was shortly followed by John. Introductions were made, and Naru wasted no time in getting straight to work.

"Hara-san, I would like you to walk the trail a bit to try and sense where the spirit may be residing. Gene, you will ask those currently here if they have heard or seen anything about this matter. Then Brown-san will attempt to purify it. Lin, you'll stay here," He spoke in a cool tone.

"What about me?" Mai pointed to herself and tilted her head to the side.

"Sit and be quiet," Naru motioned to the bench beside him. Mai's fit of anger at her role was cut short by Masako's interruption.

"You'll join me, right?" She walked over to him and stood directly in front of him. She made a motion as if she were going to grab his sleeve cuff.

"If you require it," he looked down at her, no emotion was held in his eyes. Masako made a small gasp and fell onto him, grabbing at his shirt.

"This spirit… is so strong," she breathed out. Naru seemed rigid. Mai's face was one of complete shock. Gene let out a strained laugh.

" _What a little faker…. I wish I knew it was that easy!"_

Naru and Masako made their way down the trail, Mai stood in her mixed state of shock, anger, with a dash of jealousy. She huffed and took a seat on the bench, resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

"Stupid jerk," she kicked at the gravel on the ground.

"If you want, Mai, you can come along with me," Gene extended a hand to her with a smile. She was pulled from her anger and was glad to be doing something to help the others. She accepted his hand and they walked to the main park together.

Gene and Mai had split up to cover as much ground as they could. Most of the people they talked to had no idea what the two were talking about, or gave them strange looks. Except for one little girl.

Mai sat on a swing next to the little girl who called herself Aiko, who was about 10 years old.

"You know this little girl?" Mai asked as she swung in small motions.

"Mhmm, Akemi is her name. She never changes from that white dress, she must really like it. And she's always in the woods near the pond away from everyone else. She says she doesn't want to play with anyone else," the girl gave a lot more information than Mai was anticipating.

"By the pond? Do you know which way the pond is from here?" Mai asked Aiko with a sweet smile. Aiko extended her arm and pointed directly in front of them. Mai nodded and continued swinging.

"Did she tell you why she was by the pond?" She lightly kicked the gravel below her as she swung.

"She said she was waiting for someone to find her."

"But you found her, didn't you?"

"Someone special, she said," Mai nodded despite not fully understanding the meaning.

"Thank you, Aiko. You've been a great help. Akemi is lucky to have a great friend like you," Mai stood and walked over to the girl, then bent over and smiled at her.

The small girl smiled back. The girl was then called back by her mother.

Mai turned and walked away from the girl. Her next objective was to find Gene. She walked around for a little bit but there was no luck to be had. Her curiosity kept drawing her in the direction Aiko pointed to earlier. But this time, she knew better to not run off on her own or else she would get an earful from the not so kind twin again.

Upon returning to their original location, Mai found Gene sitting on the bench with John. Lin stood not too far away from the two with a cellphone in his hand.

"Oh, Gene. I was looking for you," Mai made her way over to the two on the bench.

"Did you find something?" Gene stood up.

"Maybe? Depends on how you define something," Mai shrugged, "Do you think you guys could go to the pond with me? I don't want to go alone."

"The pond? Where did you hear about that?" Gene asked.

"That girl told me it was that way," Mai pointed behind her, back to the swings where Aiko and her mother were.

"You're going off directional information given to you by a ten-year-old?" Gene furrowed his brows slightly as he looked at her.

"You really look like your brother when you do that," Mai couldn't help but laugh.

"We are identical twins, you know," Gene smiled.

Mai, John, and Gene walked down the path back towards the swings. Mai clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at the sky as she walked.

"Is this what normally happens when you guys do this kinda stuff? Naru just bosses everyone around, and everyone just does what he says?" She kicked the stones as she walked.

"Ah, sorta. When you put it like that it sounds bad. But Naru knows what he's doing, most of the time, anyways. Normally, we stay in a house or wherever we are called to investigate, but seeing as there's no house here that isn't really possible," Gene explain. Mai formed an 'oh' with her mouth.

"Does it ever last more than one day?"

"Most of the time we are there for three days to a week."

"That's a long time."

"Goes by faster than you'd think."

"I think that's Naru and Masako over there," John pointed down the path.

As they neared the swings, Naru and Masako appeared not too far away from the pair and were heading towards them.

"I told you to stay on the bench," Naru greeted ever so warmly.

"You can't expect me to sit and do nothing!" Mai whined and mumbled something about fairness. Masako suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"I can feel her... the spirit is that way," Masako pointed to her right, "she's so sad," she covered her mouth with her kimono.

"That's where we were going," John looked down at Mai who was still brooding at his side.

"Mai said there's a pond over there." Gene mentioning her name pulled her from her quick fit of anger.

"Oh, yeah. I found this sweet little girl, oh what was her name? I should remember this, why can't I remember? Wait, did I ever even ask?"

"Mai, get to the point," Naru snapped.

"Geez, well she was apparently been friends with Akemi for a while now," Mai rocked back and forth on her feet.

"Akemi?" Naru questioned.

"That's the name of the spirit, or at least she name she gave the spirit," Mai explained.

"I guess there's nowhere else to go but the pond," John spoke with a smile.

The group traveled off the path, led by John, who was shortly followed by Naru. Leaves and twigs crunched under their footsteps, the sound of adults and children had tapered off long ago. Now there was them and the wind. The foliage grew thicker and thicker the longer they traveled, making it difficult to advance at some points.

Masako scoffed, "There's nothing here. This is why you don't trust directions from 10 year olds."

"Hey! You said you felt something this way too, so where did that go, huh?" Mai's face turned red.

"I also got a feeling you were not to be trusted with these sorts of things, maybe I should have vocalized that earlier as well," she covered her mouth and kept her head high. Suddenly, through the trees Mai could see something glistening.

"Seems like we've finally made it," Gene reached his arms up above his head and stretched. Mai stuck her tongue out in an 'I told you so' manner at Masako.

A decently sized body of water stretched out before them. It looked not terribly deep, at max being 20 feet.

"I would have never guessed this to be, well, here," John said as he took a closer step towards the water.

"Hara-san, do you sense anything?" Naru turned to face the medium whose sleeve was covering their mouth. Her face blanched. She nodded, "She's coming closer."

A cold shiver ran down Mai's spine, and she shook at the sensation. Gene smirked, "Getting the chills already?" he mused. Mai let out an anxious laugh.

Suddenly, a scream rang out. Everyone froze in their spots and turned to the source. Not very far away stood a girl clothed in a tater white dress. Mai made an attempt to move but it was if her feet had grown into the ground. She looked over and Gene, slight alarm was written on his face. Naru, however, looked as calm and collected as he always did.

"You can't run anymore," the girl spoke in a soft, raspy voice. It was a voice that sounded as though it hadn't spoken in years. Akemi turned slowly in her spot, her eye was bleeding as it was last time. A twang of heart-ache rang from Mai's chest.

"You hurt me last time," she pointed over at Gene with a menacing glare. The girl then switched her attention and looked directly at Mai. She moved slowly over to the brunette, extending her arm slowly. Mai clenched eyes shut and prepared herself for whatever was about to happen. She approached closer, and closer, and then…

Mai felt a small tug of the sleeve of her sweater. She peaked open her eyes slowly and saw the girl pulling at it. The blood that fell from her eye had now turned to tears.

"Why do people run when they see someone in trouble?" The tears kept falling. Mai found herself now able to move, she squatted down to meet eye level with the spirit. For some reason, she felt calm.

"Mai," Naru let out a caution signal, which she ignored.

"Who ran away, Akemi?" Mai asked the girl in a soft voice. The girl turned while still holding her sleeve and began to walk near the water pulling Mai with her.

"Mai!" Naru yelled out again, more force in his voice this time. He made a move to chase after her, but he was stopped by Gene.

"Let this one play out, Noll," he held his brothers shoulder. Naru shot him a glare and clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. He stayed put, trusting in his twin's intuition.

Akemi tugged her off far from the group to a shallow part of the lake that was crowded with fallen branches, leaves, and various amounts of other debris.

"He saw and he ran. Everyone runs, except you," Akemi cried.

"I won't run," Mai smiled lightly to her. Akemi pointed towards a high pile of debris.

"That's where they hid me. He saw where I was, but he never came to help. I waited for him."

"Who?"

"Tomoe," She whispered as if telling a secret.

Aiko's word's flooded abruptly into Mai's mind, " _She's waiting for someone special..."_

"I'm sorry, Akemi, but Tomoe isn't here anymore," Mai honestly had no idea where the person was who she was talking about, but she had nothing else to say, "But these people are," she motioned to the group they had just moved away from.

"They can help you to be happy," she hoped whatever she was saying was the right thing to say.

"Help?" The girl looked up at her hopefully. Mai nodded with a smile.

"It's time for you to move on now, Akemi," Mai turned around to see John standing there.

"Oh, John," Mai was slightly surprised by his sudden appearance.

"I won't run away, I'm here to help," he moved closer with a smile. Akemi backed hesitantly away.

"John can help you, don't be afraid," Mai reassured the child who stood near her side.

"You will be happy when you walk into the light," John lifted his hand and touched the girl's forehead, "Tomoe might even be waiting for you there."

"Tomoe," the girl whispered and began to glow a light gold.

"Thank you for not running, Mai," the girl looked at her with a teary smile before disappearing in a shimmery glow. Mai dropped to the ground with a sigh. All the pressure that once resided on her chest now disappeared along with the girl. She sat facing the large pile of sticks and debris. The sound of steps approached closer and closer.

Mai turned around and saw the rest of the group making their way over.

"What happened?" Gene asked as he got down next to Mai.

"The spirit is gone now," Masako covered her mouth. Naru looked over at John and nodded.

"In there," Mai pointed at the debris in the lake.

"What?" Gene asked.

"Akemi is in there," tears welled at the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, black dots began to fill her vision, and her view of Naru tilted as she fell onto her side. Darkness consumed her vision.

"Mai!"

* * *

Mai held her pulsing head and sat up. She noticed she was still by the lake, but the trees had all their leaves on them and the air was warm.

"What am I doing here?"

She looked around and saw Akemi wading into the shallow portion of the water. A man Mai could not identify walked out from behind the trees and into the clearing near the lake. A bad feeling filled her gut.

"Who are you?" Akemi asked sweetly. The man smiled and replied but Mai couldn't hear anything he said. A low-pitched buzzing filled her ears. The older man walked closer and closer to the water's edge where Akemi stood.

"No!" Mai went to stand up and run to Akemi but a hand on each of her shoulders held her back. She turned her head to look at what was holding her.

A boy of her own age stood behind her. Not too much taller than she, he also had brown hair and eyes that slightly resembled her own. A small smile played on his lips.

"Who…" Mai started to say as she stared at the boy.

"We can do introductions later, promise. But now it's very important to watch," he motioned towards the scene playing out between the two.

Once the man was in arms range of Akemi, he grabbed her and submerged her under the water. Akemi thrashed under his grasps and gasped for air at every opportunity. Mai covered her mouth with her hand and watched in honor, unable to do nothing. From the corner of her eye, Mai saw a small boy peeking out through the tree's also watching in horror. Akemi seemed to notice this too.

"T-Tomoe! Help!" Akemi cried out to the boy behind the trees. Tomoe gulped and stood as still as a statue. The man's attention turned over to the boy with a smirk. He decided he was done with Akemi now, and it was time to move on to the next victim. He picked Akemi up by her throat and slammed her body against a rock near. He then dropped her into the water, and left her to die. Her eye was bleeding and purple marks were left where the man held her. Mai watched as she turned her head over to the side and whispered, "Tomoe," before breathing her last.

"Please, stop this," Mai whispered as tears flowed from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mai," the boy's fingers dug slightly into her shoulders, "It's not over yet."

The scene shifted. Mai watched as Tomoe dashed through the trees frantically, constantly looking behind him in between calling for help. The boy then tripped over a root that was sticking up from the ground. A dark shadow loomed over him. The man from before stood over Tomoe and laughed, seemingly pleased. He reached down the grab the boy, and Mai turned her head to the side and closed her eyes.

"I can't watch," she cried. The brunette boy embraced Mai into his arms and gently rubbed her back. The sound of Tomoe's screams gathered in her ears and progressively loudened until they abruptly ended with no warning.

Mai opened her eyes and watched as the man grabbed Tomoe's lifeless body and carried him to the pond where Akemi floated face down in the water, red seeped into the water around her. He buried Tomoe by a tree, and weighed down Akemi's body until it sank to the bottom on the pond. The vision began to blur.

"All this time, Akemi thought that Tomoe had just left her," Mai wiped her tears that continued to fall.

"But now you can right the wrong," the boy still had his hand gently patting her back.

"Who are you?" It just dawned on Mai she had no recollection of seeing this boy ever before. He just smiled at her.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" She could feel herself being pulled out of her dream.

"Kazuo," he spoke just in time for Mai to hear before she woke up.

* * *

Mai shot up from where she had been laying. Her breaths were rapid as she attempted to assess what she had just seen. A black jacket had been placed on top of her, but was now slightly falling off due to her eratic movement.

"Mai," Gene sat at her side, a worried look plagued his face.

"Gene! You wouldn't believe it! Akemi had it wrong this whole time! Tomoe… h-he was-," Mai spoke a mile per minute.

"Woah, woah. Slow down. You don't want to get yourself sick," Gene looked concerned for the girl beside him on the bench. Mai took in a deep breath. She reached inside of the jacket pocket that rested on her legs and extracted a piece of caramel candy from it.

" _So it's Naru's…"_

She popped the candy into her mouth before she began her story. She explained how she saw Akemi's fate, but then also Tomoe's. Gene insisted Mai stay put, however, Mai did not listen to this. She walked with Gene over to Naru where she explained what she had to Gene. He seemed to ponder this for a second, and then called for Lin.

"Grab a shovel."

The sun was now setting, the sky was a wonderful orange color. Mai stood with Naru as they watched Lin and Gene rummage through the pile of sticks and debris, while John shoveled in front of the tree where Mai had said.

Exactly according to her dream, both bodies were found.

"What a great headline..." Naru muttered as he watched.

"Group of teens dig up missing children's bodies deep in park woods," Gene finished his thought. Lin had pulled out his cell, ready to call the police. Mai was led away from the scene by Naru, who took her back to the parking lot where they originally had met.

"You're free to go home now," he stood next to the van Lin had emerged from earlier.

"Oh… alright," Mai clasped her hands behind her back and bit the inside of her lip.

"Ahh, thank you for letting me come today," Mai bowed slightly before turning around and making her way out of the park.

"You were a help today."

Mai turned around, unsure if she just heard what she really had. Naru walked back towards the lake with a steady pace. The wind blew his hair and jacket slightly to the side. The air seemed almost soft for a second, and Mai suddenly became increasingly aware of the energy around her. She grumbled something about how it was unfair he just walks away after saying something, turned back around, and headed down the street.

Police cars sped down the road alongside Mai, she turned her head and watched them go towards the park. When she turned her head back, she could have sworn she saw the image of Akemi smiling and glowing in a second story window. After shaking her head, it was gone.

 **Saturday, November 1**

Today was all Saint's Day. The day when the dead are given alms and prayers according to the Catholic faith. Mai, despite not being catholic, said a small prayer for Akemi's fate. She hoped her and Tomeo were somewhere happy together.

Something in her told her she needed fresh air. Mai decided a walk would be a good idea this particular morning. She made her way along the sidewalk, walking aimlessly. She had no particular destination. Rounding the corner, she stopped at the gates of the cemetery. A funeral procession was in progress, two identical caskets were being carried side by side. Those gathered had a look of relief and ease more than sadness. Somehow, Mai just knew these two caskets to be Akemi and Tomoe.

She stood in the gates and watched from afar as they lowered the caskets into the ground. A large tear dropped from her eye and onto her cheek, where it rolled down and eventually landed on the pavement.

Later in the evening, Mai was at her usual post in the café, behind the counter and chatting with the regulars. No John or Takiyota today. Mai was thankful for the relatively quiet Saturday, events of the last day played on repeat in her head. A mixture of fear, hopefulness, and intrigue all combined together into one big mush.

The door chimed.

"Welcome to- oh, Naru," Mai was slightly shocked to see him, but she wasn't complaining. He sat in his normal spot at the counter, he had an envelope in his hand.

"Earl grey?" A nod response.

"I don't know why I even ask anymore," she inwardly smiled.

The hot cup steamed in her hand and she carefully placed in onto the counter and slid it across to him. In an almost mirroring action, he slid the envelope across to her. She tilted her head.

"What is this? I told you that you don't have to pay for your tea."

"It's not for the tea."

Mai curiously picked it up and cleanly ripped it open with one of her nails. She pulled out a well-paying check made out to her from 'SPR.' She gave him a confused look.

"It's for your help yesterday. However, if you don't want it I can take it back-"

"I don't really understand... but thank you," Mai said with a wide grin. A moment of silence passed between the two.

"What's SPR?" she tilted her head and she moved her finger over the letters.

"SPR is my -" Naru was cut off by Monk yelling from the kitchen.

"Mai! Can you come in here for a second?" Mai set the envelope down on the counter.

"I'll only be a moment," she said with a smile and walked into the kitchen.

When she came back, he was gone. The only proof of his presence was the empty tea cup on the counter and the ripped open enveloped with a check.

* * *

 _First of all, I'd like to apologize for how god awful this one is. I had no idea's as to what I should have the whole back story and everything. I promise that when I write cases in the future they will be more developed and not terrible. It was also difficult to think of a new spirit guide for Mai, but I think you guy's will be happy with the direction I've chosen to take with it (when you figure out who it is ;)) ._

 _Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter! It was so extremely heart warming to receive so many from one chapter._

 _Anyways, thanks for reading!_

 _Have a wonderful (and safe) Halloween/Samhain!_


	10. 9 - (Un)Fortunate Encounter

_thump thump - there's my will to live hitting the floor and rolling awayyyyyyy_ ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶

* * *

 **Monday, November 3**

Mai subconsciously moved her hips from side to side as she walked around bussing tables with her usual cheery grin. The crisp winter air seeped in through the door as customers walked in and sat for a bit of respite from the chill outside. In her down time, she absentmindedly started out the large glass panels that separated the front of the building from the outside world. Some part of her wished a certain narcissist and his twin, or polar opposite clone as she liked to say, would pop in and keep her company, but another part of her was glad she could have a few fleeting moments to herself.

A white van pulled out front of the café. Large, bold, black letters spelling 'SPR' were written across the side of it. Something about the letters seemed vaguely familiar to the teenage brunette. Mai could see smaller text underneath, but she couldn't make out what it said.

" _I should really get my eye's checked."_

The door of the van opened. A foot stepped out and-

Her squinting was interrupted when she was called into the kitchen by a certain red-haired doctor. She was handed a tray of pastries to restock the glass cabinet by the counter.

When she emerged from the small kitchen, the van was no longer parked out front. She made a mental note to check upstairs after her shift and see if any new clients had moved in.

Mai was working the morning shift today, so she wore her uniform as she worked. It was busier this morning than usual, and Mai was spread thinner than ever. But thankfully, the boy working the next shift was early, so she could leave a bit earlier than usual, leaving just enough time to peak upstairs then make her way to school.

After saying her goodbyes to Ayako and Monk, Mai made her way outside. She gazed up at the office building above the café and decided to appease her curiosity this time. She carefully made her way up to the second floor and gazed through the window on the door. It was dark inside, no lights were on, but Mai could make out the silhouette of _something_ near the door.

" _What's that?"_ She squinted to try and make out the object. A camera stood on a tripod that was facing the door she was looking in from.

"A TV camera?" she spoke aloud softly. Without realized, she put more of her weight against the door. Pushing on the door, it creaked open lightly. She looked around apprehensively before stepping inside the dark office building.

"That's what is it, alright. But why would it be in a place like this?" She continued to scan her surroundings.

"Did the last clients leave it behind? No, that can't be right," she reached out to grab the handle of the camera.

"Who's there?!" The disembodied voice startled Mai and she backed up immediately into a cabinet, recoiling her hand to her chest.

"I'm sorry! I was just, um…" Mai stopped in her sentence as the cabinet she had just backed into was now leaning against her back with all its weight.

"N-no way!" she yelled. She tried to hold up the weight but was pushed to the side by a hand on her shoulder. A loud thud and crash filled her ears. A cloud of dust arose from the crash. Mai was sitting on the ground, patting as she tried to regain her breath. Realizing she was pushed and not under the rubble herself, she looked over at the wreck to see the scene. The cabinet and camera laid crushed on the floor.

A man with black hair laid unmoving on the floor under the debris of the cabinet. Pieces of wood were scattered all over the ground.

"A-are you okay?!" Mai jumped over to the man and kneeled on all fours in front of the body. He wasn't moving.

" _Oh, my God. What should I do? Somebody…"_

"What happened?" A familiar voice spoke from the open doorway. Mai recognized it in only a second.

"Naru! What are you doing here?" Mai moved back slightly. His face held a stone-cold expression. Without addressing Mai, he moved over to the man on the floor.

"Lin, what happened?" The man on the floor lifted himself up, thick drops of blood splattered onto the floor.

"L-Lin!" Mai stuttered out.

"You're a bit cut up. Can you stand?"

"Yes."

Naru placed his arm under Lin's and helped him stand.

"U-Uh, I'm really sorry! I suddenly heard him call out to me, so I…" Concern laced her voice.

"Never mind the explanations. Are there any doctors around here?"

"There's one right around the block!" Mai reached out her hand to help but Lin slapped it away quickly. She retracted it.

"No thank you. I do not need your help," Lin glared up at her and stood with the help of Naru.

"I don't care to know why you are in here right now, but it is in the kindness of my heart to inform you that the school bell has just rung a moment ago," Mai had a hard time telling his facial expression in the dark. It took a second for her brain to register the information just presented to her.

"N-no way! I'm late again!" She sprinted as fast as she could out the door and down the street, narrowly avoiding cars and other people.

" _Why were they there? What is going on!"_ Questions raced in Mai's mind as she neared in on the school.

Mai's scolding for being tardy was thankfully not as severe as it had been previous times. Mai plopped into her seat panting. Gene looked at her with curious and concerned eyes.

" _I'll tell you later,"_ she mouthed. Gene gave a reluctant nod and turned around in his seat to pay attention to the lesson.

The moment they were released for break, Gene spun in his chair and faced Mai.

"Spill it," he said in a gossipy tone.

"Please tell me why your brother was in the building above the café?" Mai huffed.

"Oh, don't tell me you went in there," Gene had an 'oh, no' look on his face.

"Oh, I did more than go in there," she sighed and let her head fall to the desk. Gene laid his head next to hers on the desk and gave her a sympathetic look.

"Your guardian, Lin, may or may not be seriously injured," she let out with an awkward laugh.

"What!" Gene shot up.

"I said may not!" Mai waved her hands in front of her.

"What happened!" Gene couldn't take the suspense any long.

"Well, I went upstairs because I thought the new clients might have moved in, but when I got up there all I found was a camera, a cabinet, Lin, and Naru. So much for new tenants. What are they even doing in there!" she held her head in her hands.

"Oh, you met the new tenants alright," Gene let out under his breath.

"Did you say something?" Mai asked and Gene shook his head. Mai was about to continue her story when Keiko and Michiru came bouncing in with their bentos. They took the empty seats around Mai.

"He's not here again?" Michiru motioned to Naru's empty seat. Mai shook her head.

"Wonder where he's at… Probably skipping for some hot date," Keiko mused. Mai let out a laugh and looked over at Gene who surely would as well. But his chair was now empty, and no sign of him remained. She wondered for a moment where he could have wondered off to, but was quickly enveloped in her conversation with Michiru and Keiko.

Break was soon to be over, and Gene finally came back with a sly grin on his face.

"Ohhh does my brother have a bone to pick with youuuu," Gene teased and watched in amusement as Mai's face dropped.

"Don't remind me," she cried.

The day slowly came to an end, and there was no sign of Naru. Mai thought for a moment she might be off the hook. The whole day she had been planning out her escape plan to avoid Naru for, well, the rest of her foreseeable future. Needless to say, step 2 was fleeing the country. She was packing her books into her bag when she sensed a certain presence behind her. Doom's Day was upon her.

"Mai. Hallway," the voice was cold. Gene gave her a warm side hug with a grin before walking out of the room. She took a deep breath before leaving the comfort of the classroom. Most girls would kill to have time alone with Naru. However, Mai knew too much about him to obsessively fawn over him.

"So, how is Lin doing?" Mai asked curiously.

"Yes, about him. He has sprained his left leg. He won't be able to stand for a while."

"I-I'm terribly sorry…"

Mai walked a step behind Naru, fidgeting with her fingers behind her back. A bubble of anxiety was swelling in her gut.

"How is Lin involved with you? Besides being your guardian and all…"

"Assistant." He stopped walking when he stood front of a window.

"Oh, you mean you help him with his work? That makes sense..."

"The opposite. He's the assistant, and I'm the boss." Mai looked at him stunned.

"Now my assistant can't move. I believe that you have an obligation here."

"W-wait a second!" She waved her hands in front of her.

"The camera is broken, too." Mai took a step back.

"He was trying to stop you, because you were touching the camera, and this is how it turned out."

"By the way, um… how much was the camera?" Mai covered her eyes with her hands.

"Probably more than you have."

"You mean- " Mai's heart began to sink.

"You couldn't reimburse me. Which means, there is only one course that you can take. I want you to be my substitute assistant."

"Y-your assistant? You want me to help you with your work?

"Isn't that what it sounded like?"

"Isn't that strange though! I mean, we are in the same class!"

"I don't find it strange."

"W-what about Gene! I mean, nothing better than your own blood working for you, right?"

"He already works for me." Mai's hopes dropped through the floor.

"So, what do you really do for work?"

"Our job is more clearly to exterminate ghosts. I'm from Shibuya Psychic Research."

"Psychic Research?" Mai echoed.

"Is that a question? In other words, spiritual phenomenon investigation bureau." Naru had taken a few steps forward but now stopped to turn and face Mai.

"And I am its manager."

* * *

Mai walked the desolate hallways, her earlier conversation running through her head.

"Psychic research…" she muttered, "fancy word for ghost hunters." She kicked at a pebble on the floor as she walked. While she disliked the feeling of practically being blackmailed, she was slightly excited to work with the twins and work in such a unique field.

She made her way out of the school and onto the road. A fleet of cop cars sped past her with their lights and sirens blaring. Mai walked down the road, passing the location of the ice cream cart which was now closed down for the season. She noticed a cluster of police cars by the entrance to her apartment complex. She began to walk faster.

A large group of people stood outside the gates. Some people were sobbing, while others were yelling at the police.

"What's going?" Mai asked one of the older woman who looked some-what composed.

"Oh, honey. All the apartments have been robbed and sorted through. They're making everyone stay somewhere else for the night while they investigate the scene," she placed a hand on Mai's back.

In that short moment, she thought about her few possessions that she hoped to God were safe. She bolted through the line of cops that blocked the way to the apartments and ran up the stairs. She could hear steps behind her, presumably a police man. She looked down the line of doors and saw all of them, including hers, wide open. She raced over and stood in the open doorway of her home. Things were a mess and thrown around carelessly. Tear's welled in her eyes as she saw the picture of her, her mom, and her dad still sitting untouched on the counter. She grabbed it and held it to her chest before she was pulled away from the scene and back out to the crowd.

People were being picked up by cars and being driven away. She didn't know who to call, who to tell, who to trouble. She would have asked Michiru or Keiko, but they're houses were already too crowded and she couldn't find herself to impose. John wasn't in town. Ayako's place was too far away, and Bou-san lived with too many older roommates. She had one last choice. She picked up her cellphone and dialed the only number that could possibly help.

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!_

 _I'm sorry for this chapter being so short, I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as possible. My school's musical that I've been running for the past two months is almost over! So that means I'll have so much more time to write and edit, so hopefully no more waiting a month for a new chapter._

 _I heavily drew influence from the first episode of Ghost Hunt with this chapter, I thought having some parallels would be cute. I don't really plan to draw so heavily from an episode again, but I may in the future. Who knows._

 _And as always, thank you to everyone who has reviewed recently. I get extremely discouraged when writing but all of your positive words give me confidence and motivate me to write the best that I can. :)_

 _I hope everyone had a wonderful Samhain/Halloween!_

 _Have a delightful day/night!_


	11. 10 - Dried Tears

_ding ding ding! you've won a neeewww carrr! (jk, but here's a new chapter)_ ヾ(＾∇＾)

* * *

 **Monday, November 3 PM**

Naru became increasingly aggravated after listening to his brother's cellphone ring for the third time consecutively. The all too peppy ringtone was getting on his last nerve.

"Gene!" He snappily called to his twin who was currently in the shower. The mixing sound of water and Gene singing his heart out seeped through the crack under the door. There was no response.

He would have thrown the device across the room already had it not been for something in his gut telling him not to. It stopped ringing for a second, a moment of respite. But in a moment the ringing began once more. Putting down his book with more force than usual, and gripped the phone and answered it with an oh so (not) friendly, "Can I help you?"

" _Hello? Where's Gene?"_ The voice on the other line sounded destressed. Small sniffles could be heard in between the speaker's words.

"Why could you possibly be calling my brother's phone four times? I'll save you the heart break and let you know he's not interested." The teenage boy rubbed his temples.

" _Naru, please, just let me talk to Gene,"_ Naru recognized the voice to be Mai's, except in a very, very distressed state. Naru turned his head over to the hallway and listened to see if his brother was out of the shower. He was not.

"Whatever you need will have to wait, he cannot come to the phone right no- "

" _Then can you help me? Please? I don't know what to do, I have no one else to call,"_ she sounded as if she were about to break out into a loud cry. Naru could almost picture the tears welling up in her eyes. There was something about this mental image that frustrated him, almost angered him, but he couldn't figure out why. He didn't care to find out, however.

"What's going on?"

" _My whole apartment building was robbed, everything has been ripped apart. The police won't let anyone stay for the night because they need to investigate,"_ the sniffles became more and more apparent, " _I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go. I need help, I need Gene's help, he'll- "_

"What about your parents?"

" _My parents… they're, well, not in town…"_

"Are there people around you now?" Naru stood up with urgency and went to grab his keys off the hook by the foyer.

" _Uh, yeah there's a few people still here."_

"Good, don't move," he was now walking out the door.

"And if you have a problem like this again, don't call Gene. Call me." He ended the call.

* * *

Naru pulled up next to her apartment complex and practically bolted out of the car. He found Mai sitting on the curb with her hands over her face. Something panged in his chest. He stood at a distance and watched as the girl who always seemed have her life together was falling apart. Another pang. She looked up and out to the street, old tears left markings on her cheeks where they had previously fallen, and a few new ones rolled down down her face slowly. Pang.

"Oh, Naru," spotting the boy, she wiped her eyes and stood up with the small bag she was carrying. She did her best to smile and make it look as though she was not breaking down just a moment ago.

A car drove by. The sound of the wheels coming and going on the concrete filled the silence between the two. The headlights made Mai's puffy red eyes visible for a split second. For a moment, Naru couldn't remember a time he had seen her cry before.

Pang.

She walked over to him, and he led her to the car. He muttered something about who how anyone's parents could ever leave their child alone to live in such a bad side of Tokyo.

Mai sat with her bag on her lap. Her ankles rested together, and her arms wrapped tightly around the bag, holding it close. She thought that his car looked expensive, so she decided to not touch anything to avoid any damages. And no surprise to her, his car was sleek black with black and deep red interior.

"I thought you had to be 18 to get your license…" Mai spoke softly.

"Loopholes," was all he said. Mai got the vibe he did not want to have a conversation at this moment in time, which she was perfectly okay with. They seemed to get stuck at every single traffic light they came across. She could have sworn she heard a frustrated curse in another language escape the lips of Naru after the fourth stop. She noted how his knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel.

"When will your parents be back home?" Mai fidgeted with the zipper on the bag.

"They aren't exactly… coming home," her voice was soft, almost vulnerable.

"You should tell them to at least get you an apartment in a better part of Tokyo. Not only is it an inconvenience to yourself, but now others." Mai almost flinched at the coldness of his words.

"I-I'm really sorry, I never meant for this to happen," the tears pooled in her eyes again.

Pang. A sigh.

"It's fine. You know if you need anything, Gene will be there to help," a pause that seemed as if it were eternity passed.

"And I will be too."

If Mai wasn't crying before, she definitely was now.

"Thank you," she smiled to him, a sole tear ran down her cheek. It shimmered in the streetlights overhead. It would be a mental image Naru would never forget, whether he wanted to or not. He moved his eyes back to the road. Mai could have sworn that his cheeks were a light pink, but she chalked it up to the flickering streetlights. The last traffic light they passed was green.

* * *

The pair made it safely home.

Naru didn't hold the door for Mai. Gene was pacing around in the living room.

"Noll! Where have you been?"

" _There's that strange name again…"_

"You didn't even leave a note? And you took my phone? What the hell where you thinking-"

Naru stood with his arms crossed across the table from Gene. Mai peaked her head around the corner to watch Gene lecturing Naru. His eyes found her in an instant. He looked confused for a second.

"Mai?" Gene walked over to her and furrowed his brows.

"What are you…" Gene looked over to his brother, then Mai, back to his Naru, then Mai.

"You should put your cellphone on mute when you're in the shower. Common curtesy," he walked coolly out of the room.

"There was an issue…" Mai began, wringing her hands. Gene led her to the couch.

The brunette explained the ordeal to Gene, who sympathetically rubbed her back.

"Oh, Mai. I'm so sorry! I'm even more sorry that you had to deal with my brother during such a time!" He pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She shook her head.

"He wasn't too bad," she laughed a little bit, "but imagine my surprise when I called you and Mr. Friendly picked up!"

"Did they say how long it would be until you can go back?" Mai shook her head no.

"You can stay here for as long as you need to, you're safe here," Gene smiled and pulled her into a side hug. He stood up from the couch and cracked his back. His phone buzzed.

"Oh, the narcissist beckons. I'll be right back. If you think of anything you need, let me know," Gene smiled and walked down the hallway Naru did earlier.

Mai found herself alone in a slightly unfamiliar home. There was no noise of cars, no sound from neighbors, just silence. Mai was alone with her thoughts.

Fear found its way into her mind. The fear she had lost something important to her. The fear that they wouldn't catch the person who did this. The fear they would come back.

Mai became restless sitting down. She needed something to occupy herself in order to stop worrying. She got up and made her way over to the kitchen where she decided to make some tea. Unsure where they kept the tea, Mai started opening all the cabinets. She was surprised to find most of them completely empty. So empty that she found it strange. She decided to peak in the fridge and see if it followed the trend. A few glass bottles of coffee, water, a gallon of milk, and a bowl of rice was all that were in it. Mai almost gasped.

"Are you looking for something?" The voice made Mai jump.

"How could I? There's nothing here!" She motioned to the empty cabinets and fridge as she turned around to see the owner of the voice.

"We have everything we need," Naru walked over to a cabinet and grabbed some tea from it. Mai snatched it up and added it to the boiling water.

"How do you make meals here?"

"Lin normally gets food," he spoke as if there were nothing unusual about eating take out every single day.

"When was the last time you've had a home cooked meal?" Mai placed a hand on her hip. It was silent for a moment.

"Before we moved." Mai almost fell to the floor. She shook her head and she rubbed her temples.

"I don't understand how you two can both be so skinny if you eat take out everyday. Why does God give such a blessing to undeserving men?" she mumbled to herself. Naru smirked a bit.

As if a light bulb went off inside of her head, she stood up straight and snapped her fingers.

"I'll cook to make up for me staying here!"

"Do as you please," Naru turned and walked out of the room.

"It's not healthy to eat take out all the time!" Mai yelled after him. There was no response. She rolled her eyes and glanced the box of tea she held in her hands.

" _Maybe this is some kind of special weight loss tea..."_ she pondered. She went to read the small print to see if there was anything like that, but it was completely in english.

" _That must be why he's so good at english. From reading tea boxes."_

While pouring the tea, she realized she made a bit too much. She poured an extra cup and decided a certain tea-loving narcissist might enjoy it. She placed the cup on a cute saucer and made her way up the stairs. She tried to retrace her step the first time she wandered into his room. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

" _Definitely the right room."_

Mai pushed open the door and stood there for a moment with a steaming cup of tea.

"What is it?" Naru sat at the small table, a book in front of him. She stepped in and set the tea in front of him.

"I made too much, so I thought you might like a cup," she stood there for a bit, waiting for, well, anything.

"Is there something else you need?" She narrowed her eyes. She turned around and stomped out of the room muttering, "I think a 'thank you' would actually kill him."

She slammed the door as she left and stomped down the hall.

"Stupid, narcissistic, jerkish, rude-"

Mai stopped in her tracks when she heard a snicker to her side.

"Oh, seems like I've been caught," Gene was covering his mouth with his hand, "Ah, but I guess while we're up here I should show you your room."

Gene walked back the way Mai had just come from and led her to a room next to the study. She recognized this as she one she had stayed in before.

"There's a bathroom across the hall with a shower and everything if you need it. Please make yourself at home!"

And with that, the door behind her closed with a click. She held her head on her hands for a moment.

" _Why is this happening to me?!"_

Mai slept soundly. Not once did she awake from a nightmare, or from her neighbors blasting music. The sound of crickets outside her window lulled her in her sleep.

 **Tuesday, November 4**

"We have to wake her up, Noll! We can't just leave her!"

"Why not? It's not our fault she has a terrible sleep schedule."

"Think about what she's going through!"

"That has nothing to do with the ability to set an alarm."

The twins stood bickering outside of Mai's temporary room. If one of them didn't go to wake her up, surely their arguing would. The door creaked open, silencing their conversation. A sleepy Mai stood in the doorway between the two, her hair smushed to one side, her pajama's messy, and her feet adorned in her soft looking bunny slippers. She yawned and leaned back before opening her eyes to see the two boys in front of her. Not expecting the company, she took a step back.

"What you are two doing?" She switched to glance at each twin.

"She's awake. Now let's go," Naru started down the hallway.

"I can stall him for a few more minutes if you want to all walk together," Gene said as he watched Naru go out of view.

"Oh, no. Don't wait for me. I know my way," she spoke with a sleepy smile as she moved passed him and into the bathroom to freshen up for the day. The door closed with a clink. A squeaky knob was turned. Water hit the floor of the shower. A sigh.

* * *

Mai bounced down the stairs, as ready as she could be for the day. She hummed as she made her way to the door. A throat cleared behind her. She stopped in her tracks and swung around to see the source of the noise.

"O-oh, Lin! Haha, you scared me!" Mai rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. The tall man sat with his left leg propped up on the table. He spared her a glance.

"I'm so sorry about what happened! Can you walk? Can I get you anything before I go? Maybe tea or something?"

"I believe you have school to attend to."

"Er, well, yeah…" Mai slowly back out of the room. There was a long moment of awkward silence.

"Okaywellbyeseeyoulatermaybe," Mai bolted out of the door and down the block. Her face was red from embarrassment.

" _Why does he have to be so… like that!"_ She shook her head in the brisk air, as if it would take away the rouge tint.

* * *

Mai decided to eat lunch with Keiko and Michiru today to escape both Gene and Naru. As soon as she walked into her friends classroom, the questions began to flow.

"Oh, Mai! I heard what happened, I'm so sorry!" Michiru ran up to her.

"If you need anything at all we are here for you," Keiko reassured her.

"What happened?" Yasuhara, who was sitting with the girls, piped up.

"Mai's apartment building got robbed," Keiko said in a hushed tone. Yasuhara gasped dramatically.

"Oh, my sweet Mai! How could you not tell me something like this?" He held his heart and lend back on his chair. Mai giggled.

"How would you not know? It's been all over the news," Masako sat picking at her cuticles, looking rather bored. Michiru and Mai took their seats at the table they made out of desks.

"Only old people watch the news!" Yasuhara cried.

"Are you trying to say something?" Masako said through her teeth.

"Ah-aha, no of course not! You'll always be the image of youthful beauty in my mind!" Masako made a 'humph' then began munching away at her bento.

"Where did you end up staying last night?" Keiko asked before shoving a mini squid shaped hot dog into her mouth.

"I stayed at Gene and Naru's place," Mai replied nonchalantly. Everyone practically choked on their food. Coughing spread like an epidemic around the table.

"W-what!" Mai didn't understand why they were reacting in such a way.

"Mai! You stayed with two boys? Two teenage boys?" Michiru put her bento down on the table and stared directly into her eyes.

"Um, yeah. Is there something strange or-"?

"Did they do anything to you?" Yasuhara looked almost baffled.

"What? No! Of course not! They would never-"

"I can't believe Naru let you stay there!" Keiko said with a mouthful of food.

"I can't believe his parents let her stay there!" Michiru one up'ed her.

"Actually, they don't live with their parents," Mai let out an awkward laugh.

"So this was all unsupervised?!" Yasuhara was not faking clutching his heart anymore, this time it was real.

"This is ridiculous," Masako scoffed and shifted her body away to not face the group.

"Ooooo, someone is jealous," Yasuhara whispered in a not so quiet tone.

"I am not!" She shot him a dirty look.

"When will you be able to go back to your apartment?" Michiru questioned.

"Tonight, hopefully," Mai spoke with a soft smile. Anxiety about which of her possessions were and were not there had plagued her since the moment the she heard about the news.

* * *

"You stayed where?!" Monk's voice boomed through the café, causing everyone else to hush to hear the commotion.

"Monk! Don't be so loud," Mai hissed as she cleaned the counter.

"All teenage boys are bad! Evil! With terrible intentions! I should know," his grip tightened around his mug, "so help me God, Mai, if I find out they did something to you I will kill them, you hear me! I'll kill- "

Whack.

"Don't get all dramatic! Think of it as a friendly sleepover. Now stop causing a scene!" Ayako stood with her purse in hand behind the monk who was now rubbing his head. He opened his mouth to retaliate, but he was shushed by Mai.

"Wait, wait be quiet. I think they're saying something about my apartment," the television in the café had been left on all day in hopes to hear if the apartment building was safe to return to.

"As reported last night, an apartment building on the west side of Shibuya was broke into and looted. However, that doesn't seem to be the worst of it. A man, estimated to be around 45, has been found dead inside of one of the rooms. There is no call yet on if it was homicide, but we will keep you updated if we hear anything. For now, residents are being asked to stay elsewhere, and neighborhoods surrounding are to be on high alert," then it cut to interviews of other building residents. The thought of someone murdered in her own building almost made Mai sick.

"Oh, Mai…" Ayako started. Mutters of sorrys and other words of consolation flowed in through her ears, but she didn't hear them. All she could hear was the thump on her heart.

* * *

Sometime passed. Mai was now ready to go home, well, whatever home she could find. She was alone in the café. She hated working the last shift and having to lock up alone, but she didn't complain. Money was money, after all. She grabbed her bag off the floor and walked outside. Pulling the keys out of her pocket, she fumbled with them for a second before finding the right one. As she locked the door she heard a loud breath behind her.

"Hey there, sweetheart," a man stumbled around the outside terrace.

"Sorry, sir. We are closed now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Mai tried to keep calm.

"Alright with me," he walked closer, "but how about you come home with me?"

Mai took a step back, taking note that there wasn't much room left before her back were to hit the door. She was practically being corner.

"N-no, you need to leave."

"You have some gorgeous eyes there, haven't I seen them before?" he extended a hand.

"D-don't touch me!" Mai held her arms in front of her as a guard.

"You live in that apartment building that got robbed, right?" Mai's breath almost escaped her. " _How does he know..."_ She recoiled as much as she could, his hand was inches from her arm.

"Don't be like that, honey. We're going to have some fun together," his smile was crooked. His breath reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. Mai made fists, as shaky as her hands were, and squinted her eyes shut. The sound of the man's shuffling feet on the pavement abruptly stopped.

"Do you not listen? She said leave." Mai peaked open her eyes, a hand was wrapped securely around the mans outstretched wrist. Mai's eyes followed the hand up to the black clad arm, and up to unhappy face.

"Naru," Mai breathed out.

"Hey, that hurts! Let go!" The man writhed in his grasp.

"I think you need to leave," Naru seemed unfazed by his sudden movements.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" The moment Naru released the man's wrist, the drunk threw a sloppy punch, but missed and fell face first on the concrete. Naru smirked. He grabbed Mai's wrist and pulled her away from the store front, leaving the man to try to stable himself enough to stand but fail. He yelled something incoherent after the two.

His grasp was tight around her wrist, she questioned if it was his touch or the brisk air that made her cheeks turn a light pink.

"You can let go now…" Mai motioned to her wrist. He released in an instant.

"What were you doing here?" Mai tried to fill the silence with conversation.

"Do you forget I work upstairs?"

"Oh, right. But why are you out so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I got stuck with the lock up shift," Mai sighed.

"Tell them not to have you work so late alone."

"I can't do that, I don't want to make them stay longer than they need to." Naru practically rolled his eyes at her thoughtfulness.

"Hey, Naru. Where are we going?" Mai realized they were walking in a different direction they had ever before.

"Home."

"My apartment is back that way…" she stopped and pointed the other way.

"Have you not heard the news? You're not going back there," he kept walking the other direction.

"Wait, wait, wait! I can't impose like that!" she ran in front of him and stood there to block his path, "I'm sure they'll let me stay if I just ask-"

"It's unsafe. You would do the same for my brother or I, now let's go before the bars let out." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him as he walked. Her attempted bargains and pleas floated off somewhere into the distant sky.

* * *

Mai sat swaddled in a soft, grey blanket on the couch. A steaming mug of tea warmed her hands from the frigid air outside.

"Wait, wait. What happened, again?" Mai was growing tired of recounting the previous events to Gene so many times. She sighed.

"Okay, okay. I won't make you relive it anymore," his hand patted her back. Mai took a sip of her tea.

"Let's watch a movie!" Gene suggested excitedly.

"No," Naru shot him down from the armchair next to the pair on the sofa. He was reading a book. Gene looked slightly defeated.

"Why not?" Mai questioned. She didn't necessarily want to watch a movie, but Naru's quick denial ticked her off in a sort of way. He raised a brow to her. No one questioned him.

"It's late," he answered.

"Well it's a shame I don't care, isn't it?" she crossed her arms at him. There was almost an electricity between the two.

"Must I remind you whose house you are staying in?"

"Must I remind YOU who forced me to stay here?"

"H-hey Mai, it's alright… I didn't want to watch anything that badly," Gene let out a strained laugh.

"No," Mai looked over at him, "set up the movie." Naru shot a glance at her. She fired one of her own back. Gene fumbled hesitantly with the remote.

"Is this one okay?" Gene had selected Kiki's Delivery Service. Mai broke her stare off with Naru to glance at the TV screen. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"I love this movie! My parents used to watch it with me growing up," she mused. And as the play button was pressed, Naru was defeated. He pinched the bridge of his nose, but didn't make a move to leave. Mai smiled deviously, and curled up on the couch. Mai added a tally on her side to the score board she had been keeping against Naru in her head.

* * *

Gene let out a yawn about half way through the movie.

"Probably should have picked a shorter movie," he mumbled. When he looked to his left, he was unsurprised to see Mai completely knocked out on the couch beside him. In the quiet, he could hear her shallow breaths and see her chest rise and fall. However, he was surprised to find his other half also asleep on the arm chair next to Mai. His eyelids were closed, his long lashes framed his face nicely. His hand held up his head, and Gene could tell he was rather uncomfortable in his position. He would probably have an ache in his neck when he awakes. Gene couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"I think this might be the closest Noll ever comes to sleeping with a girl," Gene mumbled under his breath. He snapped a picture of the two and sent it, along with the witty comment of course, in the group chat he had with Madoka and Luella. He switched off the light and left the two in darkness, before going upstairs by himself and falling asleep, wondering if anything would ever happen with the two downstairs.

Before falling into slumber, he decided he would need to come up with a plan. He titled it, "Operation: Get Naru to realize he's in love."

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!_

 _I haven't been able to write at all in the past few weeks, my life has been really hectic. But, I might have gotten a job in my dream field so I'm super excited and hopeful for what that will bring!_

 _Next chapter probably won't be up for a bit, I only have about 100 words of it done at the moment oops. It also might be a bit short because I'm having a bit of writer's block with the concept I wanted the chapter to revolve around. But after this week, my school's musical will be over so I should have (somewhat) of my life back :) Break is coming up too so I will make sure to write as much as I can in order to have a few chapters done so I can post them soon!_

 _I hope you all are doing well! Best wishes to whatever you are doing in the future._

 _I really do hope you have been enjoying my story, I put a lot of effort into each chapter and when I hear such sweet things in the reviews it really warms my heart._

 _Have a splendid night/morning!_


	12. 11 - Declined

_cough cough sorry I've been sick for the whole past month_

* * *

 **Thursday, November 6**

Mai subconsciously rapidly tapped her pencil on her desk as she watched the clock tick down the seconds until her untimely demise.

Today was her first official day as an SPR employee. Well, temporary employee.

"Don't be so nervous," Gene turned in his seat to face the anxious brunette. They had a small break in between classes. Only one more class remained before Mai would have to spend additional time with possible the worst company on the face of the earth - Naru.

"You're really good at reading emotions! Is that some sort of psychic ability?" Mai looked at him slightly stunned. Gene placed his hand over her tapping pencil, silencing the rapid taps.

"I believe you don't understand just how easy your actions give away your emotions," Naru chimed in from the side. Mai stuck her tongue out.

"No one asked you," she muttered.

"Empath is what you're referring to," Gene removed his hand from overtop her writing utensil, "someone who can feel the mental or physical state of another."

"That's so cool…" Mai wondered what it must be like to share someone in their emotions. She wondered if that's what twins have, how when one is in pain the other can feel it. She felt bad for Gene though, because since Naru never has emotions he never gets to feel that.

"I know which ability Naru doesn't have," Mai whispered to Gene with a smirk, "if anything he must have the complete opposite. Like a sociopath!" Gene let out a small laugh.

"I also believe you don't understand how loud your whisper is," He held up with head with hand and looked tiredly out the window. Mai was about to refute but their teacher entered the room. Their conversation would have to wait until later, they would have plenty of time at the office together to duke it out.

* * *

Mai reluctantly climbed the steps up to the SPR office. Flashbacks of her previous visit flooded her mind. She made a mental note not to touch anything expensive looking this time, not wanted to lengthen her sentence. She dragged her feet on the ground and walked as slow as humanly possible to prolong her fate. She exhaled deeply as she placed her hand on the door knob and twisted it. She was greeted by Naru's ever happy visage.

"You're late."

"What are you talking about?" Mai looked around for a clock to reference, and when she spotted one, she pointed at it.

"5:30, right on the dot!" Typically, she was never on time. But the one time she was, she was going to make sure she got credit for it.

"5:00 was your time, Mai," Naru pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No way, this is some strange hazing thing, right?" Mai laughed nervously.

"This is a place of work, not an American college fraternity," he stood up and crossed his arms, obviously not pleased at his newest employee's lateness.

"I swear to you, the message said 5:30!" Mai reached to grab her phone and prove to him she was right, but he interrupted her.

"You can do that after your work, I don't care to witness you realize your own stupidity."

Mai almost growled at him, but kept it inside.

"Your desk is over there," he pointed to a corner of the room near the door. There was a filing cabinet behind it, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was the fateful cabinet that caused her to be here.

"There's paperwork for you to fill out and also some filing for today. You may leave after you finish it," he turned to walk down the hallway that had two doors on the right and one on the left.

"If you have questions, Gene will be here shortly," and with that, he entered one of the doors on the right and left Mai alone in the greeting area. Mai was slightly stunned by the abrupt training, if you could call it that, but plopped down at her desk and took off her jacket. She swiveled in her chair and giggled a bit – she always loved swivel chairs.

After quickly getting over the excitement about her seat, she found herself rather bored, the tick of the wall clock felt almost like torture, every second seeming to go by slower than the last. Most of her paper work consisted of employee information – address, birth, insurance. All of that fun stuff.

However, skimming through the stack of seemingly endless papers on her desk, she found a few report papers, which she assumed to be the ones that needed to be filed. They caught her eye though, on almost all of these papers the word 'DECLINED' was stamped boldly at the top. She couldn't help but question this word, who declined these, and why? Upon further reading, she found that these were declined cases, each with a description of the claimed paranormal activity, as well as the contact information of the client.

Descriptions of haunted buildings, objects moving, strange dreams, and creepy dolls made her feel sympathetic towards these unknown people denied assistance. Her reading was cut short when the door opened and the bell chimed.

"Hey, Mai," Gene greeted as he hung his coat on the rack next to the door.

"Oh, hey," she greeted without looking up, continuing to study the documents before her. Gene stood in front of her desk for a second, looking down at the piles of paper around her. He sighed, mumbling, "Leave it to my brother to give her so much work on the first day."

He plucked the sheet of paper from her hands, snapping her out of her daze.

"What- Give me that back!" she reached to snatch it back, but he held it out of her reach.

"What are you doing with these?"

"Obviously I'm –" she paused.

"What am I supposed to be doing with these…" she curiously looked around her and furrowed her brows, "Oh right! Filing!"

"I see you've managed to accomplish a lot," he said sarcastically with a laugh.

"Hey! I almost fully filled out this employee contact or whatever form. That was like, half of my task," she crossed her arms against her chest. Gene pulled a chair over and sat across from her.

"Look, I'll start putting these in alphabetical order, and then you can put them away. Okay?" He grabbed the stack of papers from her desk.

"I haven't finished reading them yet…" She mumbled, almost sadly.

"Don't worry, you'll have a lot of free time here to read them," he started the thumb through the numerous pieces of paper.

She nodded and grabbed her contact sheet to continue filling in the blank lines.

"So. How's it been going so after?" Gene said in a gossipy tone.

"Pretty quiet, actually. Maybe I should check to see if he's alive in there," she looked over to the closed door. "Actually…" Mai tilted her head in thought. The better parts of Naru's death seeped into her mind. Gene taking over the business, not having to deal with his rude comments, no more staying open late at the café after one of his random visits. They all seemed very good to her.

"On second thought, I think I'll just stay here," she said with a shrug.

"That's normal, actually. He stays cooped up in his office most of the time, working on hell knows what."

"When does he do homework?" Mai asked, flipping the page of her packet of forms.

Gene shrugged, "He's a night owl, I suppose."

"I guess he does seem like a night kind of person," Mai pondered the thought.

"By the way, did he happen to mention a case to you?" Gene asked as his picked a paper from the middle of the pile and placed it on top. Mai shook her head.

"No, why?" She tilted her head to the side as she wrote. Her hand was starting to cramp.

"We might be taking on a case soon, I wasn't sure what he was going to do about it yet," Mai made an 'oh' shape with her lips.

"You're going home to your apartment tonight, right? Are you excited?" Something in Gene's voice sounded nervous, but Mai didn't pick up on it.

"Yup! I can't wait to just relax in my own bed. Not that I didn't enjoy staying with you two, but there's no place like home," she said with a smile.

"If you ever need anything, just know our doors are always open. Did they ever find out what happen with that guy who was found dead?" He pushed a strand of hair out of his face that had fallen out of line from the rest of them.

"They said it was suicide, but that doesn't seem very plausible. A shame really, they blamed the whole thing on him. Said he went crazy or something."

"Did you know him?"

"A little. Everyone knows everyone in our building. It was just not like something he would have done."

"No one truly knows anyone, I guess," Gene said with a shrug.

"That's the scary part about humans. Trust is everything."

He plopped the stack of papers down on her desk. "There, all done. Now all you have to do is put them in the cabinet behind you, and you should be good to go. After the forms too, that is." He glanced up at the clock and stood up, then placed the chair he took in its original place.

"Thank you!" Mai smiled, relieved she had less work to do now.

"I have a call with a client in a few minutes, so if you need anything you'll have to ask Naru. Sorry, but he's not as bad as he comes off, you know," Gene started to walk down the hall and entered the room next to Naru's. It closed with a soft clink.

Once again, she was left in silence, minus the ticking of the clock. She had to restrain herself from peaking over at the case sheets, because she knew she would become too enwrapped in them again.

"Mai!"

Her head perked up and swiveled over to the hall, questioning if she heard what she did. She reluctantly pushed herself out of her chair and made her way in front of Naru's office door. She reached for the door knob and twisted it, pushing it open. She peaked her head inside.

"Did you call for me?" She spoke softly.

"I wasn't aware you lacked the fundamental understanding of knocking," he sat behind is desk, pen in hand, a small smug look on his face. Mai puffed out her cheeks and pushed the door opening the remaining way.

"Is there something that you are in need of?" She attempted to sound as not flustered as she could manage, but bits of her irritation managed to seep through.

"Tea," he spoke as he rested his chin on his hand.

"Huh?" She looked at him, head tilted slightly in confusion, "you know this isn't the café right? I'm not working there right now."

"I am quite aware. However, in the kitchenette there is tea," he motioned his hand in the direction of the small cooking area near the main room.

"So, you want me to make you tea. Like I do at my other job?"

"Is that not what I said?"

"Just clarifying."

With a dry smile, she turned in her place and made her way back out into the small hallway.

"Oh, and Mai," he stopped her. She turned her head back around.

"Make sure it isn't cold."

The side of her nose began to twitch, and she pulled the door closed with more force than intended.

"What a jerk," she mumbled in her state of vexation.

"I can still hear you," he said from behind the closed door. She stuck out her tongue to the door and stomped over to the kitchenette. She poured water into the kettle and set it on the stove top.

"He still asks me to make tea even when I'm not a server. It's not even like a new job," she mumbled.

While waiting for the water to boil, the bell on the door chimed.

"A visitor?"

"Woah, it's so quiet in here," she heard someone whisper. Curiously, she peaked her head out, wondering if she should greet whoever was here.

"Welcome to- Oh! It's you guys," she smiled brightly as she realized the visitors were just Monk and Ayako.

"There you are, Mai! I've missed you so much," Monk wrapped her up in large, almost suffocating, hug.

"Get off of her!" Ayako whacked him, "You saw her, when was it, yesterday!" she stood tall with her hands on her hips. The man retreated backwards, rubbing his injured head.

"What do you carry in that thing!" He stumbled backwards, rubbing the site of injury. He plopped down on one of the couches, Ayako sat on one adjacent.

"Tea?" Mai questioned before moving into the kitchenette. The pair nodded.

"Aren't you two supposed to be working downstairs?" She questioned, raising her voice a bit so they could be able to hear her. She took the kettle off the stove and added more water into it.

"We wanted to make sure you were doing fine here," Ayako crossed her legs and looked around, "and by the looks of this place, you might be needing some entertainment."

Mai leaned on the side of the kitchenette's doorway while she waited for the water to boil.

"It's fine here. No visitors or anything, so it's actually kind of relaxed. I do appreciate you guys checking in, though," she spoke with a radiant smile.

"What exactly do you do here?" Monk inquired while standing up to read the spines of the book on the shelf, "and why?"

"Yeah, Mai, if you're unhappy with your pay at the cafe you can always talk to us and- " Ayako began, but Mai cut her off.

"No, no, no! I love working in the café, don't get me wrong! I just… I got into some trouble, that's all," she rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Ayako furrowed her brows and Monk snapped his head over to her.

"What kind of trouble?" they spoke in unison, as if rehearsed.

"I kinda broke some equipment and injured the assistance and hearing it out loud sounds really bad, but I promise it isn't!" She reassured the two.

"Oh, Mai," Monk said as he exhaled, most likely from relief that she was not in serious danger.

"Anyways, this place is like a ghost hunting business. It's like exterminating rats, but there's no rats. Just ghosts," as Mai explained, she saw something spark in the two's eyes.

"Wow, that takes me back," Monk mumbled out while scanning the books, Ayako nodded grandly in agreement.

"Back to what?" Mai furrowed her brows.

"I was raised as a Shinto priestess, but I become a doctor to follow in my parent's footsteps. I'd almost forgotten that time in my life, until now," she spoke with an air of calmness around her, as if a switch had been flipped and all the energy in the room was turned into silk. It was almost pure.

"Shinto priestess," Mai mumbled, not wanting to forget this new information.

"Reminds me of my days as a real monk, you know, before I got kicked out. I remember talking much about exorcisms, or cleansing rituals as they liked to refer to it as. I wonder if I still got it in me sometimes," he lifted up with hands to look at his palms, as if his powers could be made visible through them someway.

"But those days are over now," Ayako said with a huff as she leaded back into the couch.

"Yeah, you got too old to be a priestess so they kicked you out," Monk chuckled to himself.

"What did you just say?" Ayako's face turned almost as red as her hair, the anger slowly swelled in her gut until it was about to surmount on the surface.

"H-hey…" Mai tried to stop what she knew was about to happen.

"I heard the younger girls used to call you grandmother since you had so many wrinkles," he made out in between stifled laughs.

"How dare you! I have not one wrinkle on my face, and I am still a healthy, youthful age! If anything, you are the old one! Trying to act young with your long hair, it's not fooling anyone I will have you know!" Ayako stood from her seat and pointed her finger at him, the waves of anger almost visibly radiating off of her.

"At least my hair is healthy because it hasn't been dyed to hell and back! Oh, and news flash. That shade of red is so last season!"

"I swear I'm- "

"If you're looking for a place to socialize I believe that would be better suited for your own establishment." Naru stood in the hall, arms crossed with a rather unhappy look on his face. He looked up and glared at the two, his eye's glinted from the light of the street lamps outside. The air in the room seemed to chill.

"Oi, you work here too?" Monk looked perplexed at familiar boy. Naru stood tall with a smirk on his face.

"I'm the boss," he said almost proudly. Ayako and Monk shared a glance, then burst out laughing. Mai looked at the two confused.

"Ha! The kid thinks he's old enough to be a boss," Ayako snickered.

"If you are here simply to undermine my success and intelligence, I suggest you leave now," his tone was strict and unforgiving. The two realized their mistake and stopped laughing.

"You have very rude manners to adults for being so young," Ayako stood with her arm's crossed and stuck her leg out of the side slightly.

"For being an adult you have very childish manners," he countered without missing a beat. Mai and Monk both did their best to stifle the laughter in the chest. Ayako stood with her mouth agape.

"Now, if you don't have any professional business here, I ask that you leave," he said before turning and going back into his office.

"How bratty," Ayako muttered and whipped her head to the side, her hair flipping over her shoulder dramatically.

"He's just… moody. I think it's a full moon, doesn't that have something to do with people's emotions?" Mai shrugged. Taking their cue to leave, Monk and Ayako wished Mai well before exiting and returning to their own work.

She sighed as the door closed, the silence was somewhat comforting after how loud the pair was. The tea kettle began to whistle, which made Mai jump as she had forgotten about it. She now found herself with two extra cups of tea, which had been intended for Ayako and Monk. She quickly downed the one so she wouldn't have to waste it and decided to ask Gene if he wanted the second. She placed the cups on nice saucers and made her way down the hall. In front of Naru's office she went to grab the door knob but stopped, remembering how she was reprimanded last time. She knocked using the back of her free hand.

"Come in."

She opened the door.

"I'm surprised by how fast you are learning," he said as if she were a pet that just learned how to sit.

She restrained herself and walked over to his desk, carefully setting down the cup.

"You are free to go home now," he said as he wrote something down in his book, but she couldn't make out what it said. She nodded and did not spend any second longer than she needed to in his office, hoping to make it home as soon as she could. Her apartment was cleared now and it was going to be her first night back. She was thrilled.

She grabbed the extra cup of tea from the kitchen and made her way to Gene's office. She pressed her ear against the door to hear if he was still on the phone with a client. The sound of a one sided English conversation flowed into her ear, and she sighed looking down at the cup.

Back to the kitchen she went where she poured it down the drain and washed out the cup. She set in on the rack to dry and make her way over to her desk. She suddenly remembered she hadn't finished her filing, but decided if she were fast enough she could sneak out and maybe finish it next time. She quickly grabbed her coat, phone, and keys and booked it out the door. The chilly air had never felt so good on her face.

"Well, they always say the first day is the worst. So maybe it will only get better from here on out," she tried to give herself a quick pep talk as she briskly walked down the streets of Shibuya.

Something in her gut, however, told her that this was only the beginning, and things were just getting started.

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!_

 _Wow, sorry this chapter is pretty crappy. I haven't been able to find the time to write recently with school and being extremely sick, I'm so sorry for the slow updates :(_

 _However, since I'm so far behind now I'm going to try to write as much as I can in the next few days. Thank you for your patience!_

 _On another note, my school's play is all over, but I got invited to work a professional ballet and I'm so excited! It's such a wonderful opportunity and I'm really glad I'm getting to experience it. My holiday break is coming up soon as well, so I'm excited to use that time to write!_

 _I hope all over you are doing well, my best wishes go out to you this season. I hope you find happiness in whatever you encounter :)_ _Also, I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving, that is if you celebrate it._

 _Please remember to review, it brings so much joy to my day when I read them._

 _Thank you again for reading, and I hope you have a lovely night/day. :)_


	13. 12 - First Snow

_shuush shuush, thats me driving over the snow, fearful for my life_

* * *

 **Sunday, November 9**

Mai found herself walking a few paces behind a black clad individual down a long hallway. The slightly tense posture hinted the person to be Naru. Framed faces and portraits hung on the walls of the hallway, the kind where the eyes follow you no matter where you move. She found herself lingering in front of one specific picture – a seated woman in a formal dress and a man standing at her side with his hand on her shoulder. The picture looked worn, it was obvious that it was not new. Mai noticed something about her smile seemed off, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was.

"Mai, keep up," Naru called to her. His voice sounded faded, fuzzy, as if she were slowly falling away from him. His command seemed to endlessly echo off the walls. It felt like the entire room was beginning to spin. She turned her head to the side and found herself with a shooting pain up the back of her neck and into her head. She crouched to the floor and held her head, the only thing not moving around her were the eyes of the paintings, which held their gaze no matter what. Her head was throbbing. She clenched her eyes shut.

"Mai… Mai… Mai… Look at me… Mai," she lifted her head and opened her eyes. She was no longer in the hallway with the creepy pictures. She discovered herself to be in a fully white room with the exception of pink curtains covering what Mai assumed to be windows. A baby was crying. She noticed her headache was gone.

A mother in a purple dress rocked and cooed the sobbing child. Something about her seemed to have urgency, like she was running out of time. The woman reached for a bottle on a low table but missed and accidentally knocked it to the ground. She attempted to lean over and grab it, but had trouble balancing herself.

"Oh, I'll get it," Mai moved over to pick it up but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked behind her

"Kazuo?" Mai questioned if she was seeing things.

"Watch," he motioned to the scene playing out in front of her. A bang resounded from behind the door. Someone yelled, a rough, low yell. The baby began to cry more and the mothers rocking became more and more rapid, her pleas more desperate. She watched the door, her eyes brimming with fear.

Her attempts were in vain.

The door swung open with an immense amount of force, it reverbed as it slammed against the wall. A large man stood in the door, his eyes glassy and crazed. It was evident that he hadn't shaved in days, or so much so as even shower. Mai could practically smell the residual alcohol stuck on his clothes. He opened his mouth and yelled something.

"Why can't I hear him?" Mai covered her ears and uncovered them, as if something were blocking. The woman started tearing up, yelling something back and turning her body and the baby in her arms away from him. The man stomped over, his nose twitching.

"Don't forget this, Mai," Kazuo placed his hand on the top of her head and patted it.

"What am I, a dog?" Mai looked up without moving her head, questioning the gesture.

"No, but maybe a cat."

* * *

Mai shot up in her bed, her blankets had been pushed to the ground. Her breathing was rapid. She pressed her hand to her chest and felt her heart pounding. She couldn't understand why she was having this reaction. Did she have a nightmare?

She couldn't remember.

She let herself fall back onto her bed and relax her breathing, going through mental affirmations that everything was alright and there was nothing to worry about. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to remember something, but she couldn't figure out what. She groaned as she felt an incoming headache. She rolled to her side to peak at her clock. 8:25.

"Why can't I ever sleep in on the weekends?" she complained while running her fingers through her hair. She sat up again and moved her legs over the side of her bed, the floor felt cold on the soles of her feet. She pushed herself up and walked out into the living room, stretching her back as she moved. She flicked on the TV for background noise and then dug through her cabinets to find some painkillers.

"Slight possibility of snow today in the Shibuya area…" the news caster on the screen reported.

"Snow already?" Mai mumbled as she looked out the window. The sky looked too bright for snow, there was not a single cloud. She shrugged and went into the bathroom to freshen up for the day. She didn't have work at either the café or SPR, so she found herself unsure of how to spend this valuable time.

It was only 8:40 and the young brunette found herself incredibly bored. She eventually ended up flicking through the countless amounts of channels on the television and pulled out her phone when she could not find anything of interest. With no notifications, nothing on her calendar, and the unceasing desire to do, well, anything, she came up with a plan. She scrolled through her contacts until she found the one she was looking for.

[8:43 AM] Mai: yo gene

[8:44 AM] Gene: yo mai

[8:44 AM] Mai: can I come over today?

[8:44 AM] Gene: yeah sure, is there a reason why?

[8:44 AM] Mai: how would you like a cooked meal today instead of takeout for once

[8:45 AM] Gene: whaaaaat

[8:45 AM] Mai: I know you and naru eat takeout every night don't act like you don't know

[8:46 AM] Gene: ok you got me

[8:46 AM] Mai: is it ok if I use your kitchen ;;

[8:46 AM] Gene: youre welcome to but we don't have any ingredients here

[8:47 AM] Mai: that's okay, I walk by a store on the way there

[8:47 AM] Gene: want me to come to help you carry everything?

[8:48 AM] Mai: oh no no I only need a few things :)

[8:48 AM] Gene: hmmm if you say so

[8:48 AM] Mai: ohno

[8:49 AM] Gene: ?

[8:50 AM] Mai: you only use hmmmm if you're plotting something

[8:50 AM] Gene: I'm so shocked you would think I would do such a trivial thing as plot!

[8:51 AM] Mai: mhhhmm

[8:52 AM] Gene: :(

[8:52 AM] Mai: is it okay if I come over soon?

[8:52 AM] Gene: how soon is soon

[8:53 AM] Mai: if I get to the store at 9:30, I should be out be out by 9:50 and be at your place at 10:10ish?

[8:54 AM] Gene: sounds good to me :)

[8:54 AM] Mai: gr8 I'll see you then

Mai turned off the TV and stood up to grab a jacket. She chose a green parka with fake fur around the hood. It was a little big on her, so it looked a bit funny. She put her wallet, keys, and phone in her pocket and headed out the door, making sure to lock it. As she was turning the key, she heard her neighbors gossiping a few doors down.

"I heard his wife left him and that's why he did that," said one of them.

"He always had a weird vibe around him, I'm not surprised," the other said while flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"How strange it is, to not leave a note or anything. I wonder what his children think," the third one said while covering her mouth.

" _Are they talking about Yamata?"_ Mai moved a bit slower than normal to hear what they were saying.

"Image one day just having your father go insane, rob his own apartment building, and for what? To kill himself in the end?" the second one said.

"It's almost cowardly," the third said with scorn.

"Was anything ever found missing? The first asked. The second shook her head.

"That's the strangest part, nothing was gone. Everything was just rummaged through, moved around a bit."

Mai kept her head down as she walked passed the group of chattering middle aged women. She hoped they wouldn't say anything to her, or ask her about anything she knew that they might not have already.

" _Please d_ _on't notice me, don't notice me, don't notice-"_

"Oh, Mai," the first said with a smile.

" _Damn."_ Mai smiled lightly back.

"Have you noticed anything… strange happening?" The third question, placing her hand on her hip.

"Strange?" Mai tilted her head.

"Yeah, you know, out of the ordinary? Weird occurrences, unexplainable happenings?"

"Uh, no," Mai shook her head and started inching away from the group.

"Huh, alright," She brushed her off and turned back into her group. Mai was relieved she wasn't asked anymore questions, and she made her way quickly away from them and down the steps. As she walked, she couldn't help but wonder what she meant.

" _Weird occurrences?"_ A chill went down Mai's spine as a cold gust of wind blew.

"Something else that was strange, apparently he left his cat too. Didn't even try to give it to someone before he went about what he did, just left it in his apartment to fend for itself," Mai could still here them talking even a floor below.

"That is weird, considering how much he loved that cat."

Something clicked in Mai's mind.

" _Maybe a cat,"_ she could hear vividly in her mind, but she couldn't remember where from, or who said it. She thought about it so hard, her head almost began to hurt.

"Mai!"

Mai perked her head up from her thoughts and looked around after hearing her name being called. Someone on the opposite side of the street stood waving widely over to her.

"Taki?" Mai called back. Her eyes lit up at the familiar face and she waved back. He smiled and lowered his arm. As soon as the light turned green, Mai crossed the street and walked over to him, smiling as radiant as ever.

Nearing the sidewalk, she tripped after her shoe hit a small bump in the uneven concrete. She let out a small yelp, but was thankfully caught by a pair of arms. She looked up and met eye contact with Taki, who's cheeks were slightly pink, which Mai blamed on the chilly air. They stayed like that for a moment before the two both broke out into laughter.

"As agile as ever, I see!" He let out with a laugh. She steadied herself, thanking him for not letting her face plant onto the ground.

"How have you been?" he asked, still holding onto her arm as they walked.

"Busy, as usual," she said with a puff of her cheeks, "What about you? Have you found any new work?" She tried to subtly move her arm out of his grasp, but he didn't seem to get the hint.

"Ah, nothing yet. I'm thinking about going to school, actually," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"That's never a bad idea," she stretched her arms above her head, prying free from his hold on her arm.

"What are you doing out today?" He asked her as he looked up at the sky.

"I'm headed to the grocery store right now," she laced her fingers together behind her back and bounced back and forth with each step.

"Oh! I'm headed right passed there. I'll walk you there," he said with a smile. Normally any other day Mai wouldn't have minded the additional company. But right now, she wanted nothing more than to be alone with her thoughts.

"Alright, thanks!" she said, bowing her head slightly. She tried her best to seem friendly, while on the inside she was dying to get away.

"Want to hear something funny?" she asked him.

"Hmm?" he raised a brow to her.

"I actually got a second job, well not by choice, but it's in the same place your job was!" as it came out of her mouth, she realized it actually was not very funny.

"You don't say," he said sort of indifferently, "why did you get a second job?"

"Another funny story," she laughed as she wrung her hands. She explained the story of how she accidentally injured the assistant, so now she had to work in his place until he was better and could return.

"Are you sure that's, well, legal?" he questioned, furrowing his brows.

"I mean, probably. I don't think Naru would do something like that," she then began to internally question his morality.

" _Would he do something like that? For free labor or something? Well, it can't be free because he is paying me, but easy labor? Nah, that's probably not true."_

"Naru? You're working for that kid?" Takiyota seemed shocked, and maybe, slightly bitter as well.

"Er, well, yeah," she laughed awkwardly. Thankfully, however, they were rounding the corner to the store.

"Thanks for walking with me!" Mai looked up and smiled at him, but his face didn't smile back. He looked dead ahead and narrowed his eyes with frown.

"Taki?" She asked, confused as to if she had said something wrong.

"You should have told me you already had an escort," he looked down and smiled at her, but his eyes were not smiling.

"What are you…" she followed his eye slight and found a black clad, narcissistic teenager leaning against the wall near the store. His arms were crossed as he looked up towards the sky.

"Oh, I'm going to kill Gene," she mumbled before making a beeline over to him.

"What are you doing here? Did Gene put you up to this?" She questioned him, crossing her arms.

"As if I wanted to spend my time waiting here in the cold for you to show up," he replied while rolling his eyes. Mai puffed out her cheeks.

"Well then go home," she said, walking passed him with her head held high and into the store.

"Don't you think I would have done that already if I could?" he followed behind her, but not too closely. She grabbed a basket from pile and continued on her way into an aisle.

"Keep following me and I'll scream bloody murder," she turned around and threatened. He stood unfazed by her threat.

"Fine, then you can follow me," he walked to her side, grabbed the basket from her hand, and walked in front of her. She stood shocked for a moment before running to catch up with him.

"You can carry it, that's fine by me. It's gonna get pretty heavy," she said with a smug smile. She scanned the aisle, looking for the ingredients she required.

"Your brother must have some really good dirt on you for getting you to do this," she teased as she bent over to get a closer look at the labels on the cans.

"As if I would ever be so careless to let my own brother get dirt on me," he said with a smirk, following behind her.

"Oh please, it has to be that. There's no way you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart," Mai rolled her eyes.

"You're the biggest danger magnet I've ever met, who knows maybe you'll be kidnapped. My brother probably just thinks you need a bodyguard," he replied dryly, watching her as she placed the first item into the basket.

"Well send Gene next time then," she stuck her tongue out at him and then returned to scouring the aisles. There was a pause between the two.

"I saw you had a reunion with that boy earlier," Mai looked back at him, confused.

"What boy- oh, my god I never said goodbye to Taki," she put her hands on the top of her head, eye's opened wide.

"This is all your fault!" she pointed at Naru, "You made me all flustered and I totally forgot about him!"

"I've been told I have that effect on women," he said with a smirk. Mai's face turned red.

"You're a jerk!" Mai complained louder than she intended. A couple near them turned and looked at the pair, then started to snicker to one another. However, their eye's both widened and they abruptly stopped and turned back around. Mai turned around to see Naru death glaring the pair.

"Don't do that, you'll make a bigger scene" she muttered to him and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him quickly into the next aisle.

The rest of their shopping adventure was quite calm, neither talked too much. While nearing the end of the last aisle, a phone began to buzz. Mai dug around in her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"Must be yours," she said, shaking the silent cellphone in front of him. He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. He read the caller ID and hesitated for a moment, before slipping it back inside of the pocket.

"You're not going to answer it?" Mai asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No."

"Oh," she turned around, minding her own business. But something inside her seemed to bother her. It wasn't like Naru to decline a call, considering most of them came from clients.

However, she pushed her curiosity to the side and made her way to the checkout counters. A phone began to buzz again.

"Ok, you have to answer it this time," Mai looked back at him and crossed his arms. He rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone once again. Mai peaked over to see the caller ID.

"Naru! You are ignoring your mother's calls?" Mai gasped and whacked his arm. He scoffed.

"I have my reasons," he said blandly.

"Go answer it," Mai grabbed the full basket away from him and pointed outside. She wavered slightly, not expecting how heavy the basket to be. He seemed to ignore her.

"You know," she started softly, "some people don't get the luxury of having phone calls from their parents. You shouldn't treat it so lightly." He looked at her. Something changed in his eyes. Was it confusion? Understanding? Denial? Consideration? Reluctance?

Whatever it was caused him to flip open his phone and make his way outside. Mai stood feeling accomplished at convincing Naru to actually do something human for once. Mai made her way over to a counter and plopped the heavy basket onto it. She greeted the cashier and reached in her pocket to grab her wallet.

"Miss?"

She looked up and over to her side where the couple from before had been standing.

"I'm sorry about before, we just wanted to say we weren't making fun of you or your boyfriend at all in the aisle," the man started.

"Oh no, we aren't a- "

"It just reminded me so much of how we were back in the days! Always bickering," the woman looked over and smiled at the man. Mai couldn't help but smile.

" _Oh, I'll just play along."_

"I should be the one apologizing! I'm sorry for his rude behavior," Mai bowed her head in apology.

"I wish the best for you two," the woman said before the pair turned and walked away, seemingly as happy as could be. Something about this scene warmed her heart. She smiled, slightly envious, and hoped that one day she could be that happy too.

She checked all of her items out and grabbed the two bags, then made her way outside. The air had become noticeably chiller from before, especially after having been in the warm store. Without warning, one of the bags was lifted from her grasp. She looked over to see Naru standing at her side.

"Everything alright?" She questioned. He nodded.

"Good," she said softly.

The walked in silence for a while, Mai noticed white clouds rolling in.

"What's your mom like?" Mai broke the silence with a question Naru wasn't expecting. He looked down at her as she looked thoughtfully off into the distance.

"All this time I've know you and Gene, neither of you talk about your parents," she seemed almost doleful in her tone.

"She's full of worry," he replied.

Mai rolled her eyes and shook her head, "What a wonderful way to describe the woman who gave birth to -"

"However," he interrupted, "she's willing to support anyone whole heartedly if they believe in themselves and what they are doing."

His almost poetic response slightly shocked Mai, who wasn't fully expecting a response to begin with.

"She's always been closer to Gene than me, but I supposed most wouldn't find that shocking considering our personalities."

"Is that why you don't answer her calls?" He shook his head no.

"I never said I minded it that way."

Mai felt something wet hit her head. She looked up and found white flurries falling slowly to the ground.

"Look, look!" she said as she pointed up. Her eyes lit up so brightly. She stopped in her tracks and watched as the snow began fluttering gently around.

"It's the first snow fall," she spoke gently, matching the tone of the snow around. Naru watched as she smiled as if she had never seen snow before.

"It's like they are all dancing in perfect harmony. Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, not expecting a direct response. It began to come down faster.

"Is it true no two snowflakes are alike?" Mai stretched out her hands and let it fall and melt on her skin.

"I'm not interested with precipitation," he responded dryly.

"But you don't think this is pretty?" Mai looked over at him, her eyes were gently yet questioning. The snow stuck in her hair and on the fur of her jacket. She looked innocent yet beautiful. Her almost child like views made her seem, perhaps, vulnerable.

"It's simply frozen rain," he said with a shrug, then looked away and began to adjust the button on his shirt.

"You know," she started, "you're like snow. Beautiful and unique in the moment, but annoying after you get to see it all the time."

He laughed.

Mai looked up wide-eyed, mystified at what was happening. Naru was laughing. Actually laughing. He looked over to her and smiled a true smile, where his eyes smiled and everything. Mai's cheeks turned a crimson red.

"Come on," he said as he began to walk, "I don't want to get sick because of you again."

Mai stood still for a moment, before having to will her legs to move to catch up with him.

" _Don't forget this, Mai."_

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!_

 _I told you I would update soon!_

 _Today was the first snow fall of the season at my house, which partially inspired this chapter. In all honesty, I highly dislike the snow but I feel like it's a very beautiful and romantic sight, so I wanted Naru and Mai to share it together. I was originally having Gene and Mai witnessing the first snowfall where Mai could really open up to Gene, but I liked this version better._

 _I also don't know if I will actually write a chapter on Mai cooking for the twins, it really just doesn't interest me and I think it seems very hard to write Naru and Gene eating for some reason. Sorry!_

 _I'm trying to like rush write these next few chapters so I can get back on the same time that the story follows, so hopefully there will be many more updates this and next week. I also would like to apologize in advance if these next few chapters are not to the quality that they normally are :(_

 _I hope everyone has been doing well, having good health, and eating lots of sweets!_

 _Please review!_

 _Thank you again for reading and have a beautiful night/day!_


	14. 13 - Gloom

**wow, so sorry for not updating, will leave my sappy excuse down the bottom ;;**

* * *

 **Monday, 11.10**

A somber tone filled in the air of Tokyo that morning. Even the usual upbeat Mai found herself in a slump, seemingly drained of her normal energy. Despite being late due to misplacing her keys for the thousandth time, she couldn't even bring herself to sprint to school as she normally would. She walked the same monotonous route she always had done. Mai noticed those around her also seemed to walk lethargically, but she took no mind to it and continued on her own way.

"I guess the term 'Monday blues' holds true…" she mumbled to herself as she stretched her arms out in front of her.

She knew she was late, and the abandoned hallways crushed the last tiny shred of optimism she still possessed of being on time. Continuing down the desolate hall, she arrived at her room and placed her hand on the door with a sigh.

" _So should have stayed in bed this morning._ "

She slowly opened the door to her classroom, attempting to not make much noise and disturb the class. However, the older building seemingly never complied with the students' silent wishes and always had to make as much noise as seemingly possible.

"Taniyama, please come take your seat."

" _Damn."_

The brunette laughed awkwardly and obeyed her teacher's orders, muttering her sorrys under softly. It seemed odd that she was not reprimanded for her lateness on the spot, but took it gratefully and kept quiet. Gene turned his head around and half smiled, which she returned with a small wave. The teacher cleared her throat.

"Now that you're all here, there is –"

"Wait, we are still missing someone," a boy spoke, jabbing his thumb at the empty desk next to his.

"That's Reo's desk…," a girl said softly from the other side of the room. Everyone except Gene and Naru turned around to see the empty desk at the end of the class. Mai noticed the twins shared a look between each other, and her intuition was telling her something was fishy. She narrowed her eyes at the two but couldn't seem to get their attention.

"I am aware. There is some news the school has asked all homeroom teachers to announce," she paused and took a deep breath.

"Reo will not be in school today," the teacher said while fidgeting a ring around her finger, "or any day further, for that matter," she added, considerably softer than before.

Questions immediately arose from the class, each confused by the teacher's words. She raised her hand and silenced the classroom and took a moment before continuing.

"Last week, Reo passed away."

The room was silent for only a moment before the questions returned louder than before.

"What happened?"

"This is a joke, right?"

"How could this happen?"

"There's no way this is real."

Everyone simultaneously spoke over each other.

"Unfortunately, this is no joke. Reno had some medical complications last Thursday. His funeral is tomorrow. The school understands you all must be very distraught by this news and has decided to release you from classes today and tomorrow is you wish to attend the service."

Mai sat completely still in her chair. She felt sick to her stomach when she looked over at the empty desk and realized it would never be filled with the same face again. Immense guilt settled in for never getting to know him as well as she could have, and never even taking the time to learn the color of his eyes.

One girl began to cry. Then another. Then another. Everyone looked at the abandoned desk that now held a whole new meaning. No longer was it a place to cultivate a young mind, but a place a young mind would never return to. Doubt and confusion continued to linger in the air. This was a truly unexpected event.

"This doesn't make sense," a girl cried into another girl's arms.

Reo had always had the best grades, always seemed happy and smiling, never even seemed to have a bad day. He was always particularly alone, though, but everyone thought that he simply enjoyed being by himself than being in a group. He was never bullied or picked on, his classmates had a sort of mutual respect for him. Everyone felt guilty for never truly getting to know him, taking a small piece of the blame for the tragic event that occurred.

"Mai, are you okay?" Gene looked at her sadly and reached out his hand to touch her arm. Mai immediately pulled back and covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. The touch made a shock of reality course through her body. She was reminded of her own parents' passing and was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.

" _I'm really going to be sick."_

The feeling in her swelled and her body temperature began to rise rapidly. The teacher was still talking, attempting to quell the class, but no one was listening. How could they be expected to listen at a time like this? Mai could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her nausea grew. When she couldn't take it anymore, she bolted out of her seat, through the door, and down the hallway to the restrooms. The twins shared another look again. Naru pinched the bridge of his nose.

Mai groggily made her way back to the classroom after some time. Most of the students were gone, however a few remained speaking in hushed tones and teary red eyes. Gene and Naru stood by their desks. Gene held his forehead, pushing his hair back and sighing, while Naru had his arms crossed and his gaze fixated on the windows.

"Oh, you two are still here?" Mai walked over to her desk and decided it was time to leave. She knew she couldn't stay here all day. She needed fresh air to calm her mind.

"Yeah, we were waiting for you," Gene said softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she began collecting her things quickly as to not hold them up any longer.

"You need to come into the office today," Naru rolled his fingers against his arm.

"Huh? But today was my day off…" Mai grabbed her bag and slung it across her shoulder then looked at him with her sad puppy eyes.

"I think what my brother means to stay is that there's something we would like to talk about with you," Gene shot his brother a look. Naru returned it with a stare of his own. Mai could sense the almost electric pulsation between the two.

"Alright alright, let's just go now and do it," Mai walked over and grabbed the fabric of Gene's jacket, breaking them from their staring contest, and pulled him to the door.

"Come on, I don't want to stay in here anymore. It's make me depressed," she said quietly.

* * *

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Mai placed a freshly made tray of tea on the table and sat across from the pair.

"It's about a new case," Gene started as Naru took a sip of his tea.

"Oh really?" Mai perked up slightly from the funk she had been entrapped in all day.

"To put it simply, Reo's family has contacted us to investigate their home. They believe him to be the cause of some new disturbances," Naru stated seemingly unaffected by the news of their classmates death. Gene shook his head at his bluntness.

"Way to ease into it, Naru," Gene scoffed into his tea before taking a sip.

"I don't have time to waste," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Reo… wouldn't do something malicious like that," Mai said, brows furrowed.

"Sometimes spirits in the afterlife don't act exactly how they were while living," Gene explained.

"But isn't that all too fast? He did only… pass a few days ago," Mai tilted her head slightly. The feeling of sadness and guilt began to slowly creep in the more she thought about her classmate's untimely end.

"Sudden passings often leading to near immediate hauntings," Naru explained. Mai stared down at her tea and gazed at her own reflection for a moment.

"But that leads us to our question for you, which is," Gene began.

"If you will join this case or not," Naru finished.

"Of course, I will," Mai replied immediately, "if there is anything I can do to help Reo, I would be more than willing to."

Mai looked between the two twins and noticed something immediately changed about their demeanor, as if one large sigh had been exhaled.

"What…"

Naru smirked, "I told you she would say yes."

Gene groaned and reached in his pocket, pulling out his wallet. Mai tilted her head in confusion. Gene pulled out 1000 yen and reluctantly gave it over to Naru who snatched it from his hand.

"I guess I'm not used to dealing with people who have such a good moral compass," Gene replied, taking a shot as his twin.

"Wait, wait, wait, you two made bets on if I would say yes or not to the case?" Mai sat shocked. Naru got up and walked over to his office, the ghost of a smirk still lingering on his lips. Gene rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course he leaves me to explain it…" Gene muttered and sent his other half a not so friendly message via the all too handy telepathic channel they possessed.

"We needed something to lighten the mood a little bit…" he confessed. Mai shook her head but couldn't help but laugh.

"I would be a bit more okay with it if he lost instead of you," she jabbed her thumb towards the direction of the narcissists office.

"It's ok, I'll steal it back when he's not looking," he whispered across the table to Mai with an assuring thumbs up. A stack of papers was dropped in front of Mai at a moment's notice.

"Call these people and inform them of our case, then you are released for the day," Naru said as he turned to once again return to his office.

"It wasn't even my day to work today," she pouted and looked grimly at the papers in front of her.

"Yikes, that's rough Mai," Gene said, slowly standing then inching his way towards the door, "You know me, normally I would love to stay and help but, ah well wouldn't you know, I actually have some sort of… things. So, bye!" He said before rushing out the door in a flash. As the door closed with a thud the office became starkly silent. She reached for her first paper when she jumped, startled by the voice who broke the deafening silence.

"Oh and, by the way," Naru said, leaning on the doorway to his office, "we leave tomorrow morning."

* * *

 **Ok, I would like to begin by saying how sorry I am for how long this update took, and honestly I know it isn't the best. I've been struggling for a while with my confidence while writing this story, and during that past few months I was extremely discouraged with my writing and whether or not it was actually 'good'. I have such an awful tendency to compare myself to others too much, and because of this I basically convinced myself this story was not worth writing because I thought it was trash and no one enjoyed it. But recently (as in like 30 minutes before writing this), I had this overwhelming inspiration because I just have to believe there is one person out there who maybe loves this story and for them I can't just let it die. I hope that person does exist oneday. Thank you for all your continuing support, and I look forward to updating with a new chapter soon!**


	15. 14 - Case 1: Message from the Dead

**I've been inspired !**

* * *

 **Tuesday, 11.11**

Mai sat next to Gene in the back seat of the van. She found herself lost somewhere between the excitement of her first official case and the sadness she felt for her former classmate. She smoothed out her black skirt and let out a small sigh. It took a lot of persuasion, but between she and Gene they convinced Naru to leave an hour later than planned so they could attend Reo's funeral service along with their classmates.

She rubbed her puffy, red eyes and leaned her head against the window and watched the world around her go by. The busy city of Tokyo slowly turned into a much more suburban area with very little foot traffic. Mai wondered how long the train ride must have been for Reo every day to get to school. She would never get to ask.

The house was a lot larger than Mai had expected. It was very modern and expensive looking, especially for the location it was in. Mai stepped out of the van, glad to be able to finally stretch out her legs without (accidentally) kicking the back of a particular narcissist's seat.

"Mai, come carry this," Naru called from the back on the van and plopped some heavy, and probably extremely expensive, pieces of equipment into her arms. The weight took her by surprise and caused her whole body to almost fall forward, but she quickly regained her balance.

" _Of course, Lin, Gene, and I all have our arms full while he is only carrying that stupid black book he brings everywhere,"_ Mai glared daggers into the back of Naru's head, then huffed and readjusted the weight in her arms.

"Do you need any help?" Gene offered her despite having his hands full himself. She asked herself why Naru couldn't have received the same kindness genes as his brother did.

"Oh, no. I'm alright. Thank you," she said with a vibrant smile.

Reo's parents, Mrs. and Mr. Saito stood in front of the doorway and bowed to the group. Naru spoke to them, but Mai was too concentrated on not dropping whatever she was holding in her arms to listen. Quickly, they were let inside and lead to a room with a table, couches, and nothing else.

"I hope this will be acceptable," she heard Mrs. Saito say to Naru. He nodded, "Yes, this will be fine." Lin and Gene made their way over to the far side of the room and placed down their equipment, and Mai followed in suit. Relieved of her weight, she noticed the creases on the box she was carrying was now imprinted brightly red on her arms which she rubbed gently. Now that Mai could focus on something other than the equipment, she noticed something slightly off about Mrs. Saito. She did not look sad, nor happy, but she wore a sort of scowl. She assumed it was because she was skeptic of their group. Her husband was rubbing his arm nervously, but was smiling slightly.

"As you requested, there are also two rooms down the hallway for your sleeping arrangements," Mr. Saito chimed in, "If you need anything please feel free to ask." Naru nodded and bowed slightly. And with that, the couple left the room. Gene and Lin got straight to work assembling, what Mai assumed to be, shelves. Naru opened his black book and began to write something. Unsure of what to do, she walked over to Naru.

"So… what exactly is this?" She asked, motioning to the boxes they carried in and whatever the pair was assembling. Naru closed his book and responded coolly, "This will be the base for our investigation."

"Base?" Mai echoed with a slight intonation.

"The command center for our investigation," he explained looking down at her.

"Oh…" she spoke softly.

"The others will be here shortly," he announced to all those in the room. Gene made a noise in response while Lin stayed rather silent. Naru began to make this way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Checking out the property," he replied and left the room.

"Oh, of course he leaves once the physical labor starts," she mumbled underneath her breath. She then walked over to Gene and asked, "What can I do to help?"

* * *

A bit later, everything was set up and in its place. Mai marveled at the number of screens and camera's in front of her.

"I wonder what these ones do…" she spoke to herself as she looked at the top shelves that held a few cameras.

"An infrared camera and an ultra-high-sensitivity camera," Mai jumped a bit when she received an unexpected answer and placed a hand over her heart.

"Geez, Naru. You should really make more noise when you walk."

"They are both used to shoot in dark places," he continued, "Thermography is done with cameras that pick-up temperatures. When spirits appear, the temperature where they are drop as a result of them stealing its heat to use as energy in order to manifest themselves. This gauges that," he walked over to inspect the monitors next to Mai.

"It's amazing that you can use all of this stuff," the brunette commented, looking closer at the cameras he just described.

"Mmm, of course I can. My brain works differently than yours," he said nonchalantly. Mai's face dropped at the insult and she looked over at him with dead eyes.

"You don't say," she muttered, "But why of all things did you choose to exterminate ghosts?"

"Because it is needed," he explained while checking a few wires.

"But there have been incidents that you couldn't resolve, right?" she walked over towards him.

"Nope. I am good at this, after all," he replied with a smirk.

"Of course you are…" she sighed. Just when she was about to ask another question, the door opened and a few friendly faces walked it. Mai's eyes lit up as she went to go greet them.

"Oh, Mai! I feel like it's been ages since I've seen you! Geez you look like Naru in all black like that! Don't tell me you've turned goth," Monk picked her up in a bear hug and swung her around.

"Monk- can't- breathe-" Mai gasped out before being abruptly dropped to the ground at the sound of a 'whack.'

"What the hell was that for!" Monk turned to the red hair next to him and coddled the back of his head which was just attacked by Ayako's purse.

"Mai was about to become the ghost we are investigating if you didn't let go of her!" she yelled at him and crossed her arms. Mai laughed awkwardly and moved away from the bickering couple and over to the other two who entered the room.

"Hi, Masako," she greeted the kimono clad girl in her 'I'm on my best behavior' voice.

"Mai," she acknowledged before moving directly passed her in Naru's direction. Mai inwardly growled at the girl but decided not to waste her time on her. She just couldn't be mad after look at the last familiar face.

"Hi John!" she chirped and gave him a small hug.

"It's lovely to see you, Mai!" he smiled back at her.

"How are the children at your church doing? I know you said you were going to see them last time we met," Mai questioned, trying to make small chat.

"They are very happy, and they loved the cookies you gave to me for them!" John's face always lit up when he talked about the children.

"Oh, I'm so glad. You know, I was just thinking that-" Mai was cut short but the sound of a throating being cleared.

"As long as I'm not interrupting anyone's conversation, I would like to begin this case," Naru said coldly, giving the pairs talking a look. Ayako huffed and turned her head. Naru ignored the priestess and opened his book for reference before beginning, "We have been called to investigate a spirit who is believe to be the late Reo Saito. A few of us have had personal connections with Saito in the past; however, we are not to let them affect our work here on this case," he stated with a quick side eye to Mai.

"It's always me," she muttered under her breath. John next to her suppressed a soft laugh.

"The activity described has been things such as cold spots, footsteps, flipped furniture, formation of scratches, and claims of being pushed down the stairs," he closed his book and crossed his arms.

"All typical poltergeist activity," Gene added.

"Poltergeist?" Mai asked.

"The name literally means knocking spirits, and they are generally characterized as mischievous or occasionally malevolent spirits," Gene explained.

" _Malevolent… that doesn't sound like Reo,"_ Mai mused the word.

"Idealized poltergeist hauntings will have a focus person, or someone who all the activity seems to surround. Research has found that most of these individuals are usually in a stressful situation of some kind, and are typically female. Our focus person in this case seems to be Mrs. Saito, who also conveniently checks out on these characteristics," Naru concluded, "Takigawa and Matsuzaki, you will be setting up cameras. Hara, please take a walkthrough of the property. Brown will accompany you."

The pairs huffed at their jobs, except for John who is too nice to ever be disappointed, and reluctantly went on their way. Gene turned around and continued to fidget with the wires behind the monitors, while Lin just continued to type away.

"Um, Naru? What should I do?" Mai asked, pointing to herself.

"Tea."

Mai sighed, even on an actual case she is just a coffee - or in this case tea – runner.

"Aye, aye captain," she mumbled and turned to walk out of the base. Once in the hallway, she realized she had absolutely no idea where the kitchen was. On instinct, she took a left down the hall and hoped for the best.

On her way, she couldn't help looking at the pictures on the walls. However, after a couple she was beginning to notice a quite strange trend.

" _I wonder why Reo isn't in any of these… maybe he didn't like his picture taken,"_ she shrugged, " _he was pretty shy after all…"_

Nearing the next hallway, she could hear bickering relatively close by. After coming to the dead-end, her suspicions were correct, and she found Ayako and Monk holding their equipment and arguing over the best angle for the camera.

"If this is wrong, I'm not taking the blame for – Oh, hey Mai," Ayako's attitude made a quick 180. Mai rubbed the back of her neck and walked over to them, feeling as though she definitely just interrupted something.

"Please tell me you've come to switch partners," Monk held her hands in-between his and begged her.

"Don't touch her, you old man!" Ayako whacked him with her bag.

"What do you ever keep in there!" He whimpered and held his arm. Mai couldn't help but laugh, "Will you two just get married already? You act like an old couple!" The pair's faces went beet red and the turned away from one another.

"Like I would ever marry someone like him," Ayako spat.

"Oh yeah? Well I would never marry someone who has so many face wrinkles before 60!" Ayako gasped in a hurt manner.

"How dare you! I pride myself on my perfect skin!"

"Might want to get a new mirror then," he replied wittily.

"Do either of you two know which way the kitchen is?" Mai interrupted their argument, figuring if she wasn't back in a couple of minutes she would be dead meat.

"Right," they both said simultaneously, their backs still turned to one another.

"Hey, at least you agree on one thing! Build on that," Mai patted their backs then walked down the hallway and to the right.

"Did we just get relationship advice from a teenage girl who's in love with her boss?" Monk questioned.

"I think we did."

* * *

Mai let out her held breath when she finally arrived in the kitchen. Her new problem was finding the teapot and the tea. After only a moment of searching, she found the pot in the cabinet under the sink and the tea to be conveniently place right next to the stove. While waiting for the water to boil, she finally had a moment to herself. She gazed out the window and noticed that it was dark outside. She gazed over at the clock and was surprised to find that it was already eight o'clock.

" _I guess time also flies when you are trapped with your workaholic boss."_

Once the tea was finished, she poured it into a cup and began walking back to the base but was stopped by a newly familiar voice.

"I'm sorry, Mai was it?" She turned around and found Mrs. Saito a bit behind her.

"Yes, that's it. Can I help you with anything?" She said with a smile.

"Dinner will be prepared soon. Please tell the rest of your team," she spoke briefly then went on her way.

"Sure…" she said, but she was already too far away to hear it.

Mai was thankful she remembered how to get back to the base. She debated leaving a bread crumb trail to the kitchen, since that's the only place she assumed she would be asked to go on this case. She entered the base and sat the steaming cup next to her boss who was watching as the monitors where slowly coming on one by one. She waited a moment for a 'thank you' but quickly realized it was never coming.

"You can sit and wait until the others have returned from their tasks," Naru said before taking a sip of this tea.

"Okie dokie. Oh, and Mrs. Saito said that dinner would be prepared soon," Mai said as she plopped down on the couch.

"Thank God," Gene said patting his stomach. Mai smiled and leaned over to rest her head on a pillow. Although she didn't feel sleepy, she could feel her eyelids becoming increasingly heavier, and heavier, and heavier…

Until she fell asleep.

* * *

 **Firstly, I want to thank you all for your positive and kind reviews. I sincerely mean it when I say each one brings a joy to my heart and a smile on my face. All of you inspired me so much to write this next case, which I finished the entire outline for today and completed its first chapter! Secondly, I've never truly written a case before, so I fear somethings may end up being a bit confusing. If you ever have any clarity questions, please ask them and in the next chapter I can clarify whatever needs to be! Also, these next few chapters may be slightly lengthy, I hope you don't mind! Third, thank you for being all wonderful readers and for your support for this story. I plan to write as much as humanly possible before I head off for college so I will be able to provide steady updates for you. Lastly, sorry for any grammar/spelling errors in this chapter, I'm currently finishing this at around 3:15AM and my eyes seem to be failing me a bit, lol.**

 **I hope you have a wonderful night/day!**

 **\- Lexie**


	16. 15 - Case 1: Message from the Dead

**hope everyone is doing well!**

* * *

 **Wednesday 11.12**

 _Mai opened her eyes and stretched but stopped halfway when she realized she was no longer in the base. She was now situated on the living room couch._

 _"Maybe I sleepwalked…"_

 _Swinging her legs over to couch to sit up straight, she looked around and realized she was completely alone. All the lights were off and it was pitch black outside the windows, she assumed everyone was already in bed._

 _"I can't believe no one woke me up to eat!" she mumbled and held her empty stomach. The brunette unsteadily walked over to the kitchen, still finding her balance after being through what felt like such a deep sleep. On her way, the calendar on the wall caught her eye. Immediately, she noticed all the days were crossed out only up until the 8_ _th_ _, a few days ago._

 _"That's strange, maybe they just forgot to mark these past few days off… they probably have a lot of other things to worry about," she shrugged to herself and then noticed something else particularly strange. Next to the calendar was a picture she was unfamiliar with. The family was all posed smiling around Reo who held an award of some kind._

 _"I don't remember this being here yesterday," she placed a hand on her chin and tilted her head. She reached out to touch the picture but was startled by a low voice behind her._

 _"How dare you," Mrs. Saito muttered under her breath. Her face was red with anger, Mai could practically feel her negative emotions radiating off of her. Mai spun around and immediately bowed, "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to pry, I just – "_

 _Mai lifted her head and realized that Mrs. Saito had instead walked passed her and now held the picture Mai was just looking at._

 _"You… you brought dishonor to this family," she spat at the picture, her eyes clearly focused on the smiling boy in the middle._

 _"Mrs. Saito, are you alright-" Mai reached out her hand to touch the woman's shoulder, but another hand landed on her forearm and stopped her. Mai traced the arm back and found Kazuo standing there, his finger pressed to his lips. Mai made an 'oh' with her lips then took a step back to stand next to him._

 _"This must be a dream then," she thought, connecting the dots._

 _Mai and Kazuo watched as Mrs. Saito stormed down the hall, grabbing all pictures that had her son in it. Baby pictures, graduation pictures, awards, family vacation memories… all of it was stripped from the wall and put in a basket Mrs. Saito had brought with her. Each one she took down in rage, practically throwing it into the basket. Mai couldn't understand why she was angry. Something wasn't right._

 _After Mrs. Saito had made it through the entire house snatching up all pictures of Reo, she walked out through the back door and into the grass. Tossing the basket of pictures to the side, she went around to the side of the house where she began to pull an empty metal trash can around to the back. She picked up the basket and looked at the pictures one more time scornfully and mumbled, "I will never forgive you for your actions."_

 _"Wait, what did she say?" Mai asked, looking up at Kazuo._

 _"Keep watching, Mai," he whispered back to her, disregarding her question._

 _Mrs. Saito took the basket and dumped all of the contents into the bin. Taking it a step further, she took a pack of matches from her pocket and struck one, causing it to ignite. She glared at the flame for a moment, her lips narrowed and her arm began to shake with the amount of force she held the match with. Mai was surprised that it had not already snapped in half. She walked over and stood directly over the trash can and only moved her eyes down as she dropped the match into the bin and watched the fire slowly spread from picture to picture. Mai covered her mouth to conceal a gasp. Mrs. Saito then slowly backed away and continued watching the roaring fire with arms crossed. The larger the fire grew, the larger the scowl of the mother's face became._

 _Without a moment's notice, Mai was pulled from the vision and into a black abyss with multiple glowing orbs that seemed to float without a place to go._

 _"What the hell was that?" Mai asked confused and slightly angered. Kazuo, who was still next to her, turned to face her and sighed._

 _"I'm afraid there is still much more story about this case…" he admitted with a sigh._

 _"How could she burn all his pictures! What kind of mother does that?" she exasperated._

 _"Mai, you have to uncover the truth here," Kazuo said as he held her shoulders in an attempt to have her calm down._

 _"The truth? What do you mean?" Mai could bring to feel herself being pulled from her dream. She held onto Kazuo's arms as if it were to hold her back from returning._

 _"Sometimes the living is scarier than the dead."_

Mai's eyes snapped open and she shot up straight and looked around. She was still in the base where she had fallen asleep. Lin sat by the monitors, typing away with his headphones on. She placed a hand over her heart and noticed her increased heart rate.

" _Was that a dream? What the hell was that…"_

The door abruptly opened and in walked the one and only narcissist himself. He gave Mai a glance before turning his attention to the monitors.

"How nice it is for you to finally join us," he spoke dryly.

"What time is it?" she asked while running her fingers through her hair. Her stomach grumbled, causing her face to turn a soft pink.

"Quarter past 11," he replied after checking his wrist watch.

"At night?"

"Last time I checked, the sun was not out at night," he motioned to the window with his back towards her.

"Wait, I slept all night here? Why did you not wake me up!" she exclaimed and moved the blanket, which she didn't remember placing on herself, off of her legs.

"Gene tried, but you refused to get up. We had no other choice but to leave you here."

"Oh, geez…" she held her red face in her hands.

"Get ready then get food. We are holding interviews soon," he said as he scribed something into his book.

"Alright," she spoke softly then left the room and went down the hall to the girls' room. Mai pushed open the door.

"I don't even think there is a spirit here," Ayako gossiped while filling her perfectly manicured nails.

"It's here, but small. It seems to… want something," Masako confessed holding the kimono up to her mouth.

"Hey, Mai," Ayako acknowledged.

"Hi guys," she said rummaging through her bag to find a matching outfit for the day.

"Where were you last night, hmm?" Ayako said with a brow raised.

"Oh, I just fell asleep in the base, apparently even Gene couldn't wake me," she said with an awkward laugh.

"Interesting…" Ayako replied smugly.

"What do you mean?" Mai looked over at the red-haired doctor with a questioning look.

"Well rumor on the street is that you didn't spend the night alone," she continued to file her nails. The air caught in Mai's throat and she was thrown into a coughing fit.

"See, that proves it right there," Ayako motioned her filer over to Mai. Masako simply turned her head away and held it high.

"Yeah, right Ayako," she rolled her eyes as she entered the bathroom.

"I'm not kidding! Ask Monk," she yelled as Mai closed the door.

After she was done readying for the day, she emerged from the bathroom and was surprised to find Ayako still sitting there.

"Where did Masako go?" Mai asked as she put her dirty clothes away.

"Probably to go hang all over Naru," Ayako said with a shrug.

"So, what do you think, Mai? Is the place haunted or -" A loud scream and shattering noise cut Ayako's question short. Both of the girls' heads perked up and they looked at each other.

"That can't be good," Mai said before running out of the door with Ayako quickly behind her. The door across the hall opened up and Monk came out in the same rushed manner as them.

"Which way did that come from?" He asked looking right and left down the hall.

"The kitchen!" Mai exclaimed and started running down the hall.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Monk asked as he trailed behind her.

"It's the only place I know how to get to," she yelled back at him.

Sure enough, Mai's instincts were right. On the kitchen floor sat a rather terrified looking Mrs. Saito with Gene by her siding trying to calm the shaking woman. Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked at all the broken glass around her. Ayako pushed her way through Mai and Monk and immediately attended to the woman, asking if she had any physically injuries. She shook her head no, but her mouth was trembling and she couldn't bring herself to speak.

"What happened?" A voice asked coolly from behind Mai. She looked behind her to find Naru towering above her closely.

"I was fixing the camera that went out when all the sudden the cabinets began to rumble. A couple glasses then shot out of one cabinet, aimed at Mrs. Saito, but they just barely missed. I saw the whole thing," Gene explained while still kneeling next to her. Naru nodded then walked over to the only open cabinet where he assumed the glasses had come from. He looked in it, then turned to face Mrs. Saito and his twin.

"It would be ideal to host your interview now," Naru spoke with his arms crossed.

"Naru! She just had the fright of her life, you should let her rest," Mai hissed at him, to which he returned with a cold glare. However, Mai was determined to hold her ground and gave him one of her own. There was a small snort from Gene who quickly became captivated with the ceiling when the feuding pair turned their glances to him.

"N-No, that's alright," Mrs. Saito said, still obviously shaken up, "I would rather get this over with sooner than later." Gene helped her up from the floor and lead her out of the room and towards the base.

"Takigawa and Brown, clean up this mess," Naru ordered. A huff came from Monk who went over to the closet to grab a broom.

"Mai," her ears perked up and she looked over at her boss with hopeful eyes. Was she finally about to get assigned a meaningful task?

"Tea."

All her hopes fell through the floor as he turned around to leave the room.

"Oh, Mai," John called her attention. In his hands, he held a plate of food that was extended towards her. She looked to the food then back to him with her head slightly tilted.

"Well, I know you missed dinner last night and breakfast this morning, so I saved some food for you," he confessed with a smile. Mai was so overjoyed that her eyes began to water.

"John, if you weren't a priest I would marry you right now," she said as she took the plate of food from his hands and scarfed it down while waiting for the water to boil.

"Geez, Mai. Breathe," Monk whispered to her as he passed her by sweeping. After taking her last bite of food, she smiled at John who returned the favor shyly. As she finished washing her plate, the teapot whistled and she poured nine cups of tea for everyone at base. She carried the tray of tea oh so carefully to the base, praying that she didn't drop any along the way. Thankfully, she made it securely to the base and pushed open the door with her back. Setting the tray on the table, everyone reached to pick up a cup and a chime of 'thanks you' filled her ears. She then stood behind the couch Naru and Gene sat on since there was no more room on the couches.

"Mrs. Saito, could you think of any reason that most of this activity could be happening to you?" Naru began as he opened his black book and clicked his pen. Mai tried a bit to peak over his shoulder and finally see what he keeps in there. However, she was surprised to find it was completely in English. She cursed herself for not paying attention more in class.

"I don't know. My son and I always had an open and healthy relationship since he was young," she picked up the tea cup from the table and brought it to her lips.

"Are you positive you've always have this loving relationship you claim?" Naru asked rather bluntly. Gene hit his foot from under the table as to hide it from the client.

" _If twin telepathy is really a thing, Naru must be getting an earful right now,"_ Mai thought. If it was, however, he didn't show it and held the same stoic expression as he normally did. Mrs. Saito became offended by his insinuation, and moved the tea from her lips and placed a hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry, I believe what my brother is trying to ask is if there could have been any chance he was simply unhappy at any points of his life? Anything that could cause a possible resentment?" Gene smiled softly at the woman across from them. Tensing up a bit, she set her teacup down on the table.

"Not to my knowledge," she said as she straightened her back, "My husband and I always tried to foster a loving and caring environment for him. Excuse me, but why is this relevant?" She said a bit snappier than she meant.

"Most of the time, spirits only linger if they have unspoken business or if there is a residual emotional trauma. Especially considering the circumstances of his death these two seem to be very plausible," Naru explained to the client, "Now, Mrs. Saito, do you or have you ever had other children?"

"No, Reo was my only child," for the first time in the interview, Mai noticed she spoke with a hint of sadness.

"The situation revolving your son's death was very sudden, what exactly –" Naru began but was cut off by his twin.

"This must be very difficult for you to relive, but if you could please explain more about his passing if that is OK with you," Gene comforted her. Naru shot him a glare for interrupting him, but Gene ignored it and knew what he did was better than let Naru's bluntness upset the client further.

"A few of us have been classmates with him for quite some time, and his passing was just all very sudden," Gene continued. Mai nodded in agreement.

"As I'm sure you have heard, Reo had an undetected heart condition," Mrs. Saito stated as ran her finger around the top of her teacup. Mai noticed the air in the room suddenly became stuffy and anxious.

"Exactly what was this heart condition?" Naru questioned abruptly.

"I believe the doctor said it was… hypertrophic cardiomyopathy," she took her time with her answer and looked over to the right as she spoke. Something then clicked in Mai's head. She remembered in psychology class about people tending to look a certain direction when they are lying, " _Was it left or right?"_

"Did your son pass here, at home?" Naru continued his investigation.

"Yes, right in his room," she nodded as she spoke, seemingly very confident about this answer. Naru looked at his book and then changed the topic.

"Do you know who lived in this house before your family?"

"My parents, they were the first to own this house. They gave me this house as our wedding gift," she explained to the group.

"And are they still living?" Gene queried.

"Yes, in the countryside," she nodded.

"And there was no paranormal activity before the passing of your son, correct?" Naru questioned. Mrs. Saito shook her head, "No, my husband and I were never believers in… all of this until now." Naru nodded and paused for a moment, reading something over in his book. There was a stark silence in the air because he snapped his book closed, "That will be all, Mrs. Saito. Thank you for your time."

On her way to the door, she stopped and informed the team, "I will be leaving to pick up tonight's dinner, but my husband will be home soon if you are in need of anything."

"Thank you, Mrs. Saito," Gene said with a respectful nod.

"Geez, that old Monk and John still aren't back," Ayako remarked as she plopped onto the couch.

"Must have been a lot of more glass than we thought," Mai shrugged.

Naru stepped aside from his conversation with Gene and have his next commands, "Matsuzaki and Hara, please do a temperature sweep then report back before dinner."

"Well let's get this over with," Ayako huffed before getting up and making her way with Masako out of the base.

"Mai –" Naru began.

"Yeah, yeah. Mai, tea. I know," she imitated.

"You're getting smarter every day," he replied with a smirk. She was almost out the door when she stopped to face the identical pair.

"I don't know how these interviews normally go, but did you think something was a bit… strange about some of her answers?" Her question caught Naru's attention and he turned his head towards her before looking over at his other half who shook his head.

"She was probably just tense because of everything she's gone through in the past few days," Gene answered her with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, you're right," she said before exiting the base and heading towards the kitchen.

If only she had eyes in the sky, she would see Naru watch her every move through the monitors, encased in deep thought.

* * *

 **Thank you all so so much for the positive and supportive reviews on my last few chapters. I think I want to start responding to them individually, maybe? I have the next chapter written and it is the longest one I have written yet - Would you mind a super long chapter or would it be best if I split it up into two parts? I'd really like opinions on this, I can't decide . . I have a super important day tomorrow, please send positive vibes my way, I would be forever grateful! Thank you again for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter (which should hopefully be up by next weekend!) Have a lovely day/night.**

 **Best wishes always, Lex.**


	17. 16 - Case 1: Message from the Dead

**_updating in a timely matter, who's she?_**

* * *

 **Thursday, 11.13**

"This is the last room, right?" Mai asked Monk, looking at the digital thermometer in her hand as she walked aimlessly around an empty dining room.

"23 C," Mai reported to Monk who scribed it onto one of the papers on the clipboard. He flipped through them before confirming, "Yup, seems like the last one, kiddo."

"Woo hoo," Mai said with a laugh and raised her arms in the air. She and Monk high-fived victoriously before making their way back to the base.

"Think we're gonna get another ghost attack today?" she asked the Monk while throwing the thermometer in the air and catching it as it dropped, then threw it in the air again.

"If we do I hope I'm not clean-up crew again like yesterday!" he held his back with a pained look, causing Mai to laugh.

"Hey, don't laugh! One day you'll get back pain just like me!" he pouted.

"Did I tell you why it took so long?" He continued looking down at Mai who shook her head in response.

"John and I couldn't open the closet that had the broom, so we have to use the little dustpan and brush and crawl along the floor! Seriously, who keeps a closet locked," he complained and dramatically motioned in the air with his arms.

"Aww, you poor thing," Mai said sarcastically and patted his back, "you sound like you need a spa day, and maybe get your nails done while you're at it," she jokingly grabbed his hand and examined his cuticles. He snatched his hand away from her and stuck his tongue out at her. Mai smiled. As they were walking, Mai stopped directly in front of the kitchen and sighed. Monk, who was now a few steps ahead of her, turned and asked, "Mai?"

"You head back, I have a feeling a certain narcissist is going to ask for tea," she said with an eye roll.

"OK, just be careful," he warned then turn to go to the base and give Naru their data, figuring it was best not to make him wait. Mai hummed as she put the water on the stove. She felt a bit disappointed that she had no dream last night, and was still no closer to understand whatever Kazuo was trying to tell her. She was lost in thought when a sudden chill hit the back of her neck. She placed her hand over the area and realized it was ice cold, but everywhere else was still warm.

 _"I'm pretty sure that isn't normal…"_

She shook her head and decided it was just her psyche trying to scare her. After all, she was standing in the same place Mrs. Saito was attacked just yesterday. The more she tried to ignore it, the more she ended up scaring herself. The intenseness of the cold grew so much than it sent shivers down her spine. She glanced down at the thermometer next to the stove. The temperature had dropped a considerable amount since she came into the kitchen. She swallowed hard and could feel her heart pounding.

"Oh, God," she mumbled as her body began to turn around to face whatever was behind her. She was a little surprised to find nothing there, that was until she looked over to her right. Just by the camera, a black mist was beginning to swirl and form out of thin air. However, Mai discovered she did not fear the apparition as though she thought she would. She stared at it for a moment, and despite having no visible eyes, it seemed to stare at her back.

"Hi, Reo," Mai said softly with a gentle smile. It seemed as if an unseen force was drawing her closer and closer towards the mist. Leaving her spot by the stove, she took a few steps gingerly to the spirit. Small, incomprehensible whispers seemed to come from all directions around her, but they also seemed to push her closer and closer inwards. She stopped when she stood only a few feet away. The whispers continued to get louder, but she still couldn't make them out. Hesitantly, she reached out her hand, coming so close to touching the mysterious mist. It was then she made out the whispers.

"Liar."

"Liar?" Mai repeated and furrowed her brows. A new voice snapped her from her daze, this one clearly coming from behind her.

"Mai." The young assistance turned around and retracted her arm back to her chest.

"I thought I told you to make more noise when you move!" She huffed.

"What are you doing?" Naru questioned as he went to take the screeching teapot off the stove. This was the first time Mai noticed the noise.

"Oh… I thought you would want tea when I got back to the base so I figured I would just make it now while I was already here," she explained.

"If you are making tea, why are you so far from the stove?" He raised a brow and poured the boiling water into a cup. Mai quickly took a look behind her and realized the mist was now gone.

"I, um, got a little distracted! I saw a spider web and I figured I would get rid of it! You know how Masako hates spiders and all, would have been a big scene if she saw it!" she spoke with a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her neck. It was no longer cold.

"With your bare hands?" He looked over at her.

"With my…" she looked down at her hand and then connected the dots, "Ah, you're so smart! I should have gotten a towel or something! Haha..ha...," she could practically feel the nervous sweat forming. He shot her an 'I know you're lying but I have more important things to do' look, then grabbed his tea and the thermometer on the counter and left. Once the coast was clear, she let out a big sigh of relief. She looked behind her once more in hopes the mist would reappear. However, nothing was there and there was no sign nothing had even been there. She placed her hands over her face and shook her head.

" _What is going on?"_

* * *

Wondering if she got enough sleep or not, and slowly made her way back to the base. As soon as she stood directly in front of the door, she realized she really, really did not want to spend more time under the scrutinizing pressure of Naru. She placed her hand on the door and quickly slid it open. Naru was seated on the sofa, tea in hand, with Gene at his side. Only one looked up to greet Mai.

"Do you like, need my help with anything right at this moment?" Mai asked in a rushed tone, placing a hand on each side of the doorframe and shifting her weight to the front of her feet.

"Not at the moment, but – "Naru began but was cut off.

"Ok, great! I'll be back later! Don't miss me!" Mai said with a big, up to no good, smile.

"Where are you –" Naru was cut off yet again by the quick slamming shut of the door. His grip tightened around the small cup in his hand, he did not like to be cut off. He sighed and moved his eyes over to the wall of monitors, scanning them and watching the movements of his assistant. Gene chuckled beside him.

"Oh, that girl will be the death of you," he laughed as he patted his twins back.

* * *

Mai exhaled deeply with a smile on her face, leaning her back against the door to the base. She was sure to her boss was not the happiest with her right now, but she needed nothing more than a literal breath of fresh air. Walking with a spring in her step, she found herself at the door to the back of the house, the same one she saw in her dream. She pushed open the door and was never happier to feel the rays of the natural sun hit her face. It was a surprisingly warm day for the suburbs of Tokyo, so Mai's light sweater was perfectly enough to keep her warm and comfortable. She took a deep breath and walked further into the grass. The sun was hanging low in the sky, she estimated the time to be about five in the afternoon. She stretched her arms up into the air and let out a yawn.

"I guess I didn't get enough sleep after all," she mumbled as she took a seat on the ground. Running her hands grass, she was suddenly reminded of Taki, who she had forgotten to message after their last awkward encounter.

 _"I'll have to remember to do that later."_

Letting out another yawn, she allowed her body to fall backwards into the grass. She sighed inwardly and placed her arm over to eyes to shield them from the bright sun.

And without even realizing it, she fell asleep.

* * *

 _Mai opened her eyes and discovered herself standing directly in front of the closet door near the kitchen._

 _"Is this the one Monk said was locked?" she tilted her head slightly and gave a quick glance left and right. She was alone. She shrugged and decided it couldn't hurt to try amd open it. She placed her hand on the handle and wasn't exactly surprised when it didn't open. She placed her hands on her hips and bit her bottom lip. She tried once more to open the mysterious door, giving it a bigger pull. Nothing._

 _"Mai," Kazuo called her attention over to the living room where he sat comfortably on the couch._

 _"It's locked," she said with a pout and pointed over at the door. Kazuo pushed himself off the couch and walked over to inspect the door. Once he stood behind Mai, he leaned over to inspect the lock. It dawned on Mai how close he was now, and her cheeks turned a slight pink. She could practically smell his cologne. She had smelled this before, it was so familiar... but where?_

 _"I didn't know you could smell in a dream… that's a new one," she thought to herself._

 _He stood up and held his hand to his chin in a thinking position._

 _"When characters in cartoons suddenly get an idea, what appears over their head," he questioned as if she was a contestant on a gameshow._

 _"What does that have to do with anything?" she squinted her eyes at him._

 _"Mai, just think," he stressed. She thought for a moment before, "Oh! A lightbulb!"_

 _"Ah! Yes, that's it!" He exclaimed, nodding his head over to the lamp on the table by the couch where he was previously sitting. Mai pointed over to it and raised a brow, obviously confused at what was happening. He physically pushed her back and moved her closer to the lamp until it was right in front of her._

 _"What do you want me to do with it?" She asked, extremely out of the loops of what was happening. Kazuo covered his face with his hands and then pushed them up through his hair._

 _"No wonder Oliver gets so upset with you sometimes," he mumbled._

 _"What?"_

 _"Nothing, we are running over of time. Just pick it up," he spoke with a hastened tone. Mai took the table lamp in between her two hands. There was a slight clink from inside._

 _"Ohhhhh!" She exclaimed with a bright smile, "but, how am I supposed to get it out?" she looked up at him._

 _"How do you think?" he held his hands in a shrugging position. Mai looked once more at the lamp, then threw it against the wall with all her might, creating a loud smash. Kazuo rubbed his temples with a smile and a laugh._

 _"Just, don't actually do that when the time comes," he patted her head._

 _"How else was I supposed to get it!" she squatted down and grabbed the key from the broken ceramic pieces on the floor._

 _"Just take the top off of it next time."_

 _"Oh," she said softly with a small blush, "Well, that's not as fun," she mumbled._

 _"Alright, but what is so important that I have to see in the closet?" she asked moving over to the door._

 _"Is this some weird out of body experience so I can just help Monk if he gets stuck on clean up duty again? Or does this mean I'm going to be the one on clean up duty? Aw man, anything but clean up duty," she cried and looked pleadingly up to him._

 _"Mai, focus," Kazuo urged shaking his head, visibly getting slightly frustrated with her._

 _"Sorry, sorry," she mumbled. She stuck the key into its hole and twisted. She twisted the door knob and pulled. This time it opened._

 _"Okay, this is not a closet," she perplexed and backed up a bit. In front of her was a long set of stairs that lead to a black abyss._

 _"You're going to need this," Kazuo plopped a flash light into Mai's hand. Flicking it on, she could see the bottom of the stairs._

 _"You're not really going to make me go down there," she pleaded._

 _"It safe, I'm with you," he smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her forward. She placed one foot on the top stair and it creaked under her weight. She frowned and anxiously laughed before taking another step, and then another. Rushing down the last few, she shone her light around the room. She could see the dust particles floating in the beam of the light._

 _"It's… a storage room?" she questioned and looked up at her guide._

 _"Over there," he pointed over to a box in the corner. Mai moved over to it and was surprised to see that, unlike the rest, it was not cover in dust and looked freshly placed._

 _"Open it," Kazuo whispered. She placed her hands over it, and as soon as she was about to open it, she left herself awaking up._

* * *

Mai shot up straight.

"No, no, no!" she muttered to herself and held the sides of her face in her hands.

"Are you alright, Mai? Did you have a nightmare?" Gene turned around from his chair in front of the monitors with a concerned look.

"Oh, uh, yes! A nightmare. Super scary," she said rubbing her arm and avoiding eye contact.

" _Didn't I fall asleep outside? How'd I get back to the base?"_

She pushed the blankets off her legs and stood to stretch.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Dinner," Gene pointed to one of the monitors in the dining room.

"Are you going?"

"Nah, someone has to stay and watch the monitors," he tapped his pen on the table in front of the screens.

"Oh…"

"But please, go get some food!" Gene said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll bring you something back!" Mai promised him before heading out to go to her room to freshen up a bit before eating.

" _Geez, I feel like I've slept this case away,"_ she touched her bed head.

" _What the hell was that dream, anyways? No way there could actually be a basement down there, right?"_

Mai stopped in the hall when she noticed something abnormal about it. The door to Reo's room was open. She crept over to it and peering inside. Mr. Saito sat on Reo's bed with his head in his lap.

"Oh, Mr. Saito," Mai said softly. His head shot up with a surprised expression, not suspecting a visitor.

"Hello, Mai," he sniffled.

" _Oh, was he crying?"_

"Um, I think dinner is ready, I wasn't sure if you knew," Mai guessed.

"Ah, yes. I was just on my way," he whipped his eyes. Mai debated on walking away, but after a moment of silence, she walked into the room and sat on the bed next to Mr. Saito.

"I don't think I've had a chance to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. The Reo I knew was always a lovely person, I can assure you," a sad smile graced her face.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You know…" she paused for a moment before sighing, "I haven't told many people this, but... my parents passed away when I was very young." Mr. Saito looked at her with wide eyes, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea-" Mai waved her hands in front of her.

"No, it's fine. I just want you to know that I understand the amount of anguish you must be in right now," the sad smile still hung upon her lips.

"My wife, it's just, she hasn't been handling the whole… situation well. She's extremely old-fashioned and refuses to see the truth as it is," he shook his head and held this hands in his lap.

" _Old-fashioned? What's that supposed to mean?"_

"It will always haunt me… no pun intended," he said with a soft laugh, "I was working in Kyoto before Reo's death. I didn't get to see him much before he passed. I just wished I could have been with him. Maybe if I just paid more attention to him, this all wouldn't have happened. Maybe if-" Mai stopped him.

"You can't blame yourself for this. As tragic as it is, what's happened has. There's nothing you could have done," she looked over at him.

"You're right," he said with a nod then stood up, "Thank you, Mai. I'm heading to dinner now. I hope to see you there," he stated then left the room. She looked around Reo's room for a minute. It was strangely empty. She stood up and walked to the desk and pulled over a drawer.

"Why is there nothing here?" she muttered to herself. She turned around and scanned the room. It smelled a bit like… bleach?

"I need to get out of here," she shook her head and walked to the door.

Once she left, Mr. Saito strange wording truly dawned onto her.

" _It sounded as if he thought he could have prevented it… How can you prevent an undetected heart condition?"_ Nothing was adding up. A sudden flash of the box from her dream popped into her mind.

" _I have to go tonight, I just have to make sure…"_

* * *

Dinner proved to be uneventful. Most of the conversation consisted of Mrs. Saito inquiring Masako about her television show. For claiming to not watch it often, she surely seemed to know much about it.

After dinner, the team was returning to the base. She decided she needed to ask Naru about the door, just to see if he knew anything. Just as she was making her way over to him, Masako latched onto his arm like a leech, showing no signs of letting go. Mai rolled her eyes and decided to just go take a look at it herself. She looked around to make sure the coast was clear before trying to pull it open.

Locked. She sighed.

"Do you need something?" Mrs. Saito asked from out of nowhere. Mai was taken by surprise and jumped at the woman's voice.

"O-Oh, I was just looking for the broom! I was planning on helping you clean up from dinner," she prided herself on how truthful the lie came out. Mrs. Saito did not look pleased.

"I appreciate your attempt but I am perfectly fine cleaning with my husband," she said without a hint of kindness in her voice.

"O-Of course, I didn't mean to impose," Mai spoke nervously.

"I believe the rest of your team has left," she glanced down the hallway.

"Right, I'll be going," Mai bowed slightly, then turned and walked down the hallway with a quickened pace.

"How'd you fall behind?" Ayako asked her.

"Er, bathroom," Mai said with a confident smile.

"Oh honey," Ayako pulled her into a side hug and leaned down to her ear, "we need to teach you how to lie convincingly."

"Now that you are all here," Naru eyed Mai.

"Always me," she huffed to herself.

"Brown will be preforming a exorcism of the house tomorrow in conjunction with Takigawa. I assume this will be enough time to prepare yourselves," he crossed his arms and made direct eye contact with John and Monk. Something twisted in Mai's stomach. An exorcism on Reo just didn't seem right to her. Something in her wanted to object, but she suppressed it, knowing she would have no way to back up her claim.

"You all are dismissed for tonight. I recommend you all get some sleep, tomorrow could be a long day," he spoke in his usual tone. Everyone made their way to the door to head to the rooms.

"Mai, come here," Naru said coolly. Her heartdropped.

"Oooooo, someone is in trouuuuble," Monk whispered to her as he passed her on his way out.

"Zip it," Mai pouted and made her way across the room to the black clad teenager. Everyone had left the room besides Naru and of course Lin who sat with his headphones on, typing who knows what.

"Sit," he motioned to the far couch. He took a seat opposite her and crossed his legs. Mai sat uncomfortably straight, wringing her hands.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked innocently.

"What do you know?" he interrogated.

"What are you talking about?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"You know something, and you are not telling me," he challenged her.

"I'm not sure what you mean…" she decided to play dumb.

" _What does he think I know? I mean, what do I even know that I know? Is this about my dreams? I can't tell him about that, no way. That would give away Kazuo's cover. I mean, he never said I couldn't tell anyone about him but – "_

"Mai," Naru snapped her out of her thoughts, "Lying will not help you." She gulped.

"I'm sorry, Naru, I really wish I knew what you were talking about…" she looked down at her feet. The boy sighed.

"Go get some rest," he got up from the couch and turned his back to her. She moved over to the door.

"And," he stopped her in her tracks, "when you decide to tell me what you feel so protective of, I will be here." He didn't turn to look at her, and Mai didn't turn to look at him. Without a word, she closed the door to the base behind her.

"Jackass," she muttered.

* * *

Mai laid in bed, attempting to read the book Naru had lent her forever ago. However, the moonlight was slowly shifting through the slits in the blinds, becoming too dark to read. Not that she was getting very much reading done. Her eyes read the words on the lines, but it was not absorbed into her mind. Instead, she was preoccupied with her plan to check out the locked door. She concluded the hardest part would be getting past the base, since Naru the nocturnal would definitely still be awake. She picked up her phone to check the time.

" _2:37"_

She looked over to the girls next to her. She could just make out Masako's small breaths over Ayako's snoring. She decided it was now or never to make her escape. Setting her bare feet on the cold hardwood, she began to tip-toe her way over to the door. But as life would have it, nothing was ever as easy as it seemed. The floor creaked loudly under Mai's foot. She cursed herself for not being able to float along the floor like Masako. And speak of the devil –

"Mai? What are you doing?" A small voice squeaked.

"Sorry, Masako. I'm just going to the bathroom," Mai held her arms up as if she were guilty. Masako mumbled something and rolled over. Even Mai could admit how lovely a sleepy Masako looked in the moonlight.

" _Damn it, no wonder Naru likes her so much."_

Carefully slipping out the door, she began to make her way down the hallway. The carpet became her friend and muffled the sound of her movement. As she passed the base, she held her breath and tip-toed as carefully as anyone could ever tip-toe. Somehow through the dark hallways, Mai still found herself standing in front of the door, just like her dream. She tried opening the door just one more time, because why not. Still locked.

" _Okay… Key_ ," Mai looked over to the lamp and made her way over to it. Instead of throwing it against the wall, she lifted the top as Kazuo said.

"Oh this is so much easier," she mumbled to herself and reached her hand inside.

"What in the hell do you think you are doing?" A not so happy voice hissed out to her in the darkness. Catching her off guard, Mai's arm hit the inside of the lamp, causing it to wobble.

" _No, no, it can't break like in my dream!_ "

Two arms reached around from behind her and grabbed the lamp to steady it. Mai let out a deep side.

"You know I don't ask questions a second time," Naru whispered low in her ear. Mai praised God that he was behind her so he could not see the deep blush on her cheeks.

"Oh, God, er, um, I'm sleepwalking? Yes, sleepwalking! How did I manage to get alllll the way out here?" she laughed awkwardly, hand still in the base of the lamp.

"Mai," he whispered again.

" _Oh! The key!"_ Mai placed her hand and the bottom of the lamp and searched until she found the small piece of metal at the bottom. She pulled it out and looked victoriously at it then replaced the top of the lamp. She turned around to find Naru still inches away from her face. He still hadn't moved his arms. For a moment, they looked into each other's eyes, before both looked away and Naru pulling his arms away, pink on each of their cheeks. Luckily, or unluckily, the darkness had a way of concealing things.

"H-How did you know I was here?" Mai stammered, still a bit flustered.

"Our camera's stream 24/7," he stated. Mai hit herself on the head, cursing for not thinking of such an obvious plot hole in her plan.

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if the clients found you?" he spoke harshly, but still hushed. Mai stayed quiet and looked at the floor. He sighed and softened his tone, which was very strange for the boy to do.

"Why didn't you tell me you were about to do something ridiculous?"

"Because you wouldn't understand!" She whispered forcefully.

"Of course I wouldn't if you don't explain!"

"I'll explain everything, alright, but right now isn't the time and place. Please, just trust me this once," she looked directly at him, pleading not only through her words but through her eyes. He sighed and shook his head.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" he mumbled, "Just keep quiet." Mai felt relieved, well for the time being.

"I just… I had a feeling this isn't just a closet," she began to walk over to it.

"And you just miraculously knew there was a key in the lamp?"

"Not exactly…" Mai unlocked the door with the key and opened it very slowly so it wouldn't creak. Mai reached into her pocked and took out her phone for the flashlight. As in her dream, a set of stairs led downwards. Mai shot Naru an 'I told you so' look. He rolled his eyes and started making his was down the steps.

"I never said I disagreed with you," he stated.

"Yeah, yeah. Try to take the credit while you can," Mai mumbled and followed close behind, making sure to close the door softly behind them. It was pitch black except for the small flashlight her old phone provided.

"It's over here," Mai led him over to the box which was in the same position as in her dream.

"What is, exactly?" Naru inquired.

"I'm not exactly sure," she said with a nervous laugh. Naru raised a brow at her.

"But! I know it's important," she went on to explain. Mai took the leap of faith and pulled the top off the of box.

"Is this…" Mai gasped as she took one of the copybooks from the box. She opened the first page and found 'Reo Saito' clearly printed on the inside cover.

"All Saito's things…" Naru finished her sentence as he often did with his twin.

"This is why his room was so empty…" Mai connected the dots. But looking around, there was no other boxes without ample amounts of dust on it.

"This can't be everything he had in his room, right?" The dream of Mrs. Saito burning the pictures of Reo seeped back into her mind and dropped her stomach. If she burned the pictures… what else did she burn?

"Mai," Naru called as he grabbed the phone from her hand and shone it over the book he took from the box. She would have objected but the words on the page caught her eye.

"What did you find?"

"His journal," he flipped the page and continued reading.

"Naru! You can't just read a dead person's journal!" Mai went to snatch it from his hands, but he held it up in the air and continued reading. Mai puffed out her cheeks.

" _Oh, he's going to play the height game, huh?"_

"Just as I suspected," he muttered.

"Well? What does it say?" Mai was beginning to get impatient.

"Seems as if Reo was not as happy as his mother would like to admit. Practially the exact opposite," Naru lowered his hand and gave the journal over to Mai to read. Skimming through the pages, the words 'lonely', 'disappointment', 'depressed', and 'tired' appeared in almost every entry.

"Oh, my God," Mai breathed out, she could feel her eye's welling with tears.

"Sounds like his mother overworked him and gave him no affection in return," Naru spoke as if emotionally unfazed.

"And look," Naru flipped through the pages until the came to the last one with writing.

"This page is ripped out?" Mai looked puzzled.

"But why would it be ripped out?" She gazed over to Naru for an answer.

"We will have to wait until we are back at base to find out," he took the book from her hands and held it under his arm. Suddenly, Mai's flashlight turned off.

"Huh?" she looked at her phone, but it was unresponsive.

"Uh-oh," she whispered, "it's dead." She could practically feel Naru glaring at her.

"First you forget your phone, and now you don't charge it?" Naru rubbed his temples.

"At least I remembered it this time!" she claimed. Just as she finished her sentence, the floor creaked above them.

"Shit," Naru muttered. Mai's breath caught in her throat. She could not hear the door opening slowly. A strobe of light hit the wall across from the steps. Naru grabbed Mai's hand and pulled her through the darkness. She couldn't see an inch in front of her face.

"Where are we go-" A hand was placed over her mouth as they suddenly haulted. Mai got the message and reached up to grab the hand covering her mouth.

"Get down," Naru whispered lowly in her ear. Mai nodded her head and they slid down to the floor together. Naru wrapped an arm around Mai and pulled her close into his chest. If her heart wasn't beating out of her chest before, it sure was now. She could hear the difference of tones as the footsteps moved from the stairs onto the floor.

" _This smell_ _… it's so similar to my dream... It can't be... Naru?,_ " she inhaled deeply.

" _Mai! What are you thinking! This is clearly not the time_ ," she shook her head and brought herself down to reality. A flashlight scanned the room, and for a moment Mai could now see their hiding spot was between stacks of boxes.

"Oliver, are you down here?"

" _Isn't that the same name Kazuo mentioned?_ _Who the hell is Ol-"_ Beside her, Naru exhaled and stood up.

"Gene," Naru said coming out from the stacks of boxes. Mai pushed herself up and followed him out.

"What the hell are you two doing down here?" he exclaimed moving his light between the two. Naru held up the journal with a smirk.

"You're never going to believe this," he replied.

"Come on, let's just get back to the base before anyone else finds us," Naru led the way up the stairs, with Mai who followed closely behind, and Gene behind her. After leaving the basement, Mai planted the key back in the vase, then the group made their way back to the base.

Once in the base, Naru searched for a pencil and flipped open the journal to the ripped out page.

"Hell Noll, do you have any idea what would have happened if anyone besides me had found you two? What were you thinking? How in God's name did you even get down there? WHY in God's name did you go down there? And how are you even involved in this, Mai?" he sputtered.

"Is anyone going to explain to me what just went on?" Gene asked after none replied to his previous questions. Mai and Naru were too invested in what they were doing to reply. Gene sighed and joined the two.

"The words written on the missing page are physically imprinted on this one. By using this pencil, it will skip over the imprinted parts and leave us with the message in inverted colors," Naru explained as he began to color in the page with pencil, and soon the words from the ripped-out page could be read clearly. Mai covered her mouth as she gasped. She only needed to read so much to understand what was written on that page.

"T-That's a suicide note."

* * *

 _ **Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Sorry I didn't post sooner, I've been having sort of a lack of motivation. This chapter turned out not to be as long as I excepted so I just decided to post the whole thing! Normally when I post a chapter, I already have the next on completed and only needed editing, but this time I actually don't have the next one done, but I am slowly realizing that one might end up even longer than this one, oops. Please don't mind the wait, it wouldn't break my previous record of not updating for like seven months lol.**_

 _ **I hope this chapter was worth the wait! I tried to put sneak a little something secretive in there, but I'm not sure if anyone will pick up on it haha. Minute details! Completely off topic, but Lammas is tomorrow, so blesses to all my fellow wiccans/pagans or anyone else who may celebrate it!**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you again for reading, and if you have the time, please leave a review and let me know how I am doing! Thank you all so much to everyone who has reviewed recently, each one sincerely fills my heart with joy and makes me squeal a bit! I hope your summer or winter is going super well and you are receiving all the good things in life you deserve. As always, have an absolutely lovely day/night! -Lex**_


	18. not a chapter, just an update (sorry)

Hello!

I first want to apologize for the lack of updates. I initially thought I would have more time to write, but alas here I am. I wanted to post this quick update to let anyone who cares know that I still do remember this story! I have not abandoned it and do plan on updating further in the future. All of your kind words towards my story continues to inspire me to this day. Even if I am not constantly updating, please know I will never let this story die without giving it a proper ending (that is my absolute pet peeve with fanfiction, i would never want to do that to someone else).

Recently, I started college, taking 19 credits this semester, as well as starting a new job in which i seem to work every moment I am not in school. Truthfully, I wish I had more time to write but at the moment I simply haven't been able to find it. I hope you all understand the delay in these upcoming months, and I will work my hardest to get the next chapter out hopefully before the end of this month.

I also wanna take this chance to go over some questions and such that have been left in the reviews, just for clarity and such.

 _Diving in_ \- hi, i actually want to apologize because I honestly think I completely left out that whole section of where Naru hires Monk/Ayako. I really can't believe I missed that lmao. I was trying to set it up how the one day Monk/Ayako were talking about their past spiritual endeavers, Naru would then overhear this and employ them for their services in one of the following days. So sorry about that, thank you for picking up on that! Since I don't often find myself writing, I tend to forget what I have/haven't written into the story. If something like this ever happens again, please feel free to tell me and I can give a general idea of how/what I was going to do with the idea/write it into the story.

 _Fairyvixenmaiden_ \- hello ! Merry (late) Mabon! Ahh the sweetness from your reviews make me smile from ear to ear! Thank you very much for your suggestions, I have put them with my notes for future chapters in the story! If I don't update before the 31st, I hope you have the most spectacular Samhain! Please forgive me in my lack of updating recently, I hope that you will be happy with the upcoming chapters and that they will make up for this extended period!

 _pennYnnep_ \- honestly, I didn't even notice that while editing but it is a mistake on my part! not the exact hint I was talking about, just a personal error. So sorry about that! sometimes when I edit late at night I tending to begin just scanning instead of completely editing, and I guess it must have slipped by me! I am very happy to hear you are enjoying this series, I hope these upcoming chapters will make up for my lack of updates.

 _hanasakura8_ \- you didn't really leave a question, but you always leave the absolute kindest reviews ever and I want to thank you for that. Your reviews always inspire me and help me to continue writing. Thank you so much for your kind words and your thought-out reviews. I am so so so sorry for how long it has taken me to update, but I hope that you will continue to enjoy my story in these months to come.

 _CaitHawke4Ever_ \- sadly, Naru is not Mai's spirit guide. Honestly, I would be very surprised if someone guesses Kazuo's true identity. I have an idea of very intricately lacing him into the story and I will try to put small hints into chapters. However, the first hint might be his actual name ;)

Thank you to everyone for your kind reviews! I know I definitely didn't answer all of the questions, but I tried to get as many done as I could. If you still have questions, please let me know and I will answer anything in the next chapter/update (whichever comes first). Thank you so very much for your patience with me through these last few months. I promise to have a chapter up soon, I hope it will not disappoint anyone. I hope everyone has a very lovely spooky season! Fall has always been my favorite season, and I can feel my inspiration flowing for this story.

As always, have a very very happy day, afternoon, evening, or night. A blessed (late) Mabon and Samhain/Halloween to all if I do not update sooner. I wish you all joys and happiness throughout this month. Thank you very much for reading this update. I will speak with you soon in the next chapter! :)


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